ZPS-14
by BertGlamGa
Summary: This is a story about a group of survivors, trying to make their way in the world. They start out in Georgia, travel across much of the USA, and eventually end up in Europe thanks to people they met! The title is a reference to the way this story was created. ALL CHARACTERS BASED LOOSELY ON REAL PEOPLE/TWD CHARACTERS. "Foul" language, slight gore, and minor sex scenes.
1. Chapter 1: End

**Chapter 1 "End"**

**Day 1**

It was June 3rd, 2016, and a group of friends would soon become a group of survivors. They had just graduated high school in Hobbs, New Mexico, and were celebrating with a road trip across the United States. They were four eighteen-year-olds with a lot of ambition.

Driving the car was Robert Hutchins, a thoughtful young man who was basically the leader of the group. He was slender, brunet, and had stunning green eyes. He was dressed in tight maroon pants, a black shirt that red 'Sinister,' and a pair of black boots he fondly dubbed as his "stompers."

Next to him in the passenger seat was his best friend, Lily King, who was a very smart, short girl who was quite talented at telling jokes. She was adorned in a loose purple dress with flip-flops.

In the back seat was two girls, LaRissa and Lyrik. LaRissa Masterson was a moderately funny girl with high hopes for her future, hoping to go into nursing at Texas Tech. She was wearing a sheer pink blouse with a white undershirt, matching pink tennis shoes, and blue jeans.

Lyrik Bernthal was a black girl obsessed with music, pop culture, and being right. She was wearing tight black pants, black sneakers, and a royal blue top.

The foursome was justing coming from Dallas, Texas, after having spent the last few days there. They were just arriving in Senoia, Georgia, headed for Atlanta, and they were running low on gas. Robert pulled into the first convenience store they found, a quaint little blue and white building on a crowded block in the middle of the city. "All right," he said, "LaRissa, you stay here and pump. I'm gonna go in and get drinks, do you guys want anything?"

"Um.." Lyrik started, "I'll just go in with you."

"Me too," Lily said.

"You know what I want," LaRissa told Robert. "Just coffee."

Robert nodded his head, and they all exited the car. LaRissa readied the pump and went right to her phone, texting her family and playing Candy Crush.

Lily, Lyrik, and Robert entered the gas station and immediately split off. Robert went for the coffee, getting himself and LaRissa one. For himself, a caramel espresso. For LaRissa, a French vanilla frappe. Lily went to the fridges in the back to get a drink, and Lyrik went straight for the candy. "No Faygo!" Lily moaned loudly from her aisle.

After the coffees were filled, Robert met Lily in the drinks section. "There's no Faygo," she said sadly.

Robert smiled at her, rolling his eyes. "I heard."

She smiled at herself and continued eying the shelves. "Should I get water or Sprite?" she asked.

"Well, whatever you do, don't get that," Robert said, pointing to an orange liquid with red and yellow chunks floating around in it, looking like bottled vomit.

"Ew," Lily said. "I think I'll just get Sprite." Lyrik came around the counter, her left arm incapacitated, filled with candy; Skittles and Nerds falling out from between her fingers. She bent over and grabbed a Dr. Pepper, encumbering the last free limb she had. Robert and Lily rolled their eyes jokingly at her.

The three went for the counter to check out with their items. Lyrik dumped her armful of candy onto the counter in front of the only cashier on shift. He was a middle-aged Latino with squinty brown eyes and lots of prison-style tattoos, but was pretty short for a guy his age. His name tag read "Javier, yo." Lyrik seemed to be very attracted to him, judging by the way the two were eyeing each other up.

As he was ringing them up, a scrawny man with wild blonde hair and big green eyes burst through the doors and ducked into the closest aisle. The expression on his face was of pure horror. "Get down!" he yelled to them, to which the cashier and Robert lifted their brows. As the cashier was about to speak, presumably to ask him to leave, a shrill scream was heard outside. LaRissa had fallen, her leg tangled in the gas pump. Her phone was lying in front of her, cracked into pieces, and she was struggling to free her leg as a group of crazy-looking people approached. Some were missing fingers, walking with a limp, or had huge, open gashes on their bodies with blood staining their clothes and skin. There must have been at least twenty of them, and they were pretty close to LaRissa.

"What the fuck are those?" Lily asked as Robert and Lyrik ran to the door to help LaRissa.

"No!" Screamed the man cowering in the aisle. Robert and Lyrik staggered in shock, and he jumped in front of the door, blocking the way of anyone trying to get in or out. "They're monsters. I heard someone call them walkers. They're like mutations of humans or something. Whatever they are, they're dangerous. I barely escaped them," he said as he pulled up his dirty sleeve, revealing a huge gash on his left arm. "They bit me. Their want is to eat. They don't think, or care in any way. I should know. My girlfriend did this to me."

Everyone else looked on in horror. Lily and Javier looked like they were about to puke. "You're going to die, aren't you?" Lyrik asked him.

"I don't know," he said, looking quite sad.

"What's your name?" Robert asked him.

"Jackson, but that doesn't matter. What matters is that you don't go outside! And that she doesn't get in! She's on her own now. If those things — those walkers — see us, we're dead!"

"We can't just leave her out there!" Lyrik said. Their attention was drawn back to outside as LaRissa had freed her leg and was nearly at the doors. She went to the handle and the doors opened slightly, but then Jackson threw his weight back onto them. LaRissa peered in and saw the man, and looked past him to us. She screamed to get him off and to let her in. Lily didn't budge, believing the strange man. She wasn't about to get herself killed. Robert thought that Jackson's words held some weight, as well, but he and Lyrik did their best to get the man off the doors.

"No!" Jackson yelled, grabbing a display case full of lighters and flinging them at the two. "I'm sorry, but you don't know what you're doing! Would you rather one die, or all of us die?!"

"I'd prefer if none of us died," Robert said. He looked to the cashier, "Are you just going to stand there the whole time or are you going to do something?!" He looked to Lily, continuing. "Help us!"

The man behind the desk looked nervous and bolted to the back, opening a door to the back alley and escaping. Lily watched and took a step towards the door, but couldn't leave her friends like this, so she began trying to get to Jackson as well.

The walkers outside were getting dangerously close to LaRissa as she was putting all of her weight against the doors. She grew desperate, and began banging her fists against the windows of the door, hoping to knock out the glass and get in. The walkers could now reach out and touch her. Finally, the three were able to get Jackson off the doors, and LaRissa fell to the ground as her weight swung the doors open.

Trying to get herself up, a walker fell on top of her, and she screamed in panic. She scrambled, trying to get to her feet, but the walker chomped down into her right leg, ripping right through her jeans and pulling out veins and muscles, viciously digging into her calf. Robert and Lyrik dragged her in while Lily and Jackson kicked at the walker on top of LaRissa, flinging it back into the crowd of walkers. Lily, Lyrik, and Jackson tried closing the door again, but the weight of about twenty undead corpses wasn't helping much. Robert was on the ground attempting to help LaRissa, and told Lyrik to run and get stuff to help LaRissa out while he did his best with what was near him. Quickly, she bolted off into the aisles, searching frantically for something help LaRissa with. Lily and Jackson were struggling to keep the doors closed. The wild-looking man told Lily to hold onto the doors while he gets something to put against them. Lyrik returned to Robert with bandages and alcohol. Robert did his best to use the bandages to stop the bleeding, as she was making hemorrhaging blood and was now barely conscious. She was now barely conscious. Suddenly, the doors burst open and Lily fell to a knee, scraping it open, but quickly got up and screamed, "We have to go! Now!"

Jackson was dragging the ice cream fridge to the doors when Lily fell, and he cursed under his breath. He ran to LaRissa, and helped Lily and Lyrik get a good hold on her. Jackson told them to go on without him. Robert refused to let him go, but Jackson jumped into the crowd of walkers. They began devouring him, and Lyrik and Lily could only watch in horror. "Come on!" Robert yelled, and they stumbled out of the back doors, Robert running ahead to find help. They went down the alley in the opposite way that the walkers were coming from and made it to the door. They struggled to keep LaRissa up, and two walkers had followed them out of the backdoor by the time they were halfway down the alley. When they made it to the street, LaRissa fell, and the walkers were coming quickly. A car was coming down the street, and Robert and Lily went to go stand in front of it. It stopped and Robert opened the back door as Lily went back to Lyrik to help LaRissa back up and out of the alley. Walkers were beginning to appear on other sides of the streets, as well.

Robert opened the back door and saw that the back seat was filled with groceries, and he pushed them to the floorboard. "Hey!" said the old man driving. "What are you doing?!"

"My friend is hurt and we need help. If anything back here got damaged, I'll pay you back. Just take us to the hospital."

Robert ran back to help them carry LaRissa, and Lyrik got in first. The three cooperated to gently get LaRissa in next to Lyrik, and the bitten girl's torso fell limply onto Lyrik. Robert jumped into the passenger seat as Lily tried her best to gently get LaRissa further in so she could get in as well. They took off with walkers all around them, headed to the hospital.

"Thanks, sir," Robert said. "My name's Robert Hutchins. That's Lily," he gestured to them, "that's Lyrik, and my hurt friend there is LaRissa. What's your name?"

The man looked a bit nervous, unsure of what exactly what was going on. "H-Hershel," he stuttered out, "Hershel Greene. So, if you don't mind me asking, what happened to your friend, there?"

"I'm not exactly sure," Robert said. "A crazy man locked her out of this convenience store we were in, and those things back there, 'walkers' he called them, there were more of them. A lot of them. One fell on top of her, and bit into her. She nearly died of blood loss, but we managed to get the bleeding to stop before the doors burst open and we had to bolt."

The car swerved around a corner, dodging a walker in the road. Just a few blocks farther and they were in front of the Senoia hospital. There were people inside in police uniforms shooting at the ravaged people, which were everywhere. "Fuck!" exclaimed Lily. "Looks like we need to go somewhere else. Or find a doctor."

A random blow of kindness, Hershel opened up to them. "I'm a veterinarian. We can go back to my farm outside of town and I can help your friend there."

"Thank you so much," Lyrik said to him.

"Just don't make me regret this," he said, looking up in the rearview mirror to them.

They made it to his farm about twenty minutes later, and were met at the driveway by his son, Shawn, and two daughters, Maggie and Beth. Shawn asked what happened, and Hershel told him to help us get LaRissa inside. He picked her up, and Hershel and Robert's group followed. Maggie and Beth were told to get the groceries from the car and to bring them inside.

When they entered, LaRissa was laid onto the couch, and Hershel's wife approached from the kitchen. "Honey, what's happening? Who are these people? We already have guests over, dear." In the kitchen was two fat men and an old lady who looked oddly like Beth. One of the fat men resembled Maggie, and had moderately long, deep black hair. The other one was wearing camouflage, with stubbly, balding hair. He was sat next to his aging blonde wife. They looked on in worry and confusion.

"Hello, Otis. Patricia. Arnold," Hershel said in a rush. They nodded, feigning smiles, still looking confused. "Annette, get me some peroxide and bandages," he said to his wife. She turned to the couple at the kitchen table, smiled politely, and excused herself to go upstairs. She came back down shortly afterwards and they tried to help LaRissa.

After doing the best they could for LaRissa, Hershel invited Robert, Lily, and Lyrik to join them for dinner. The three were all quite taken by Shawn, as he was very handsome and kind. Otis and Patricia left shortly after to their home in town. Annette and Hershel apologized for ruining their night, and they talked about the monsters that hurt LaRissa and apparently killed a man that Robert and his friends had met that day. Otis and Patricia thought they might be lying, but Hershel vouched for them, seeing the strange people himself. Annette suggested that they might just be sick people desperate for help.

After a few hours, LaRissa remained unconscious, and Hershel decided they should move her to a bedroom. He invited the teenagers to stay the night with him, and gave them rooms to sleep in. Robert got a room of his own, while Lyrik and Lily shared a room.

* * *

><p>This is a huge story that I've already written a LOT of (all the way up to chapter 18 as of posting this), so this story isn't going ANYWHERE! I'll be posting chapters twice per day until I catch up to another site I'm posting this to, so chapter 14 should be up by November 3rd! From then, expect a chapter every other day. Definitely need you guys to rate and review, as you always should with stories! Any and all feedback is welcome. Make suggestions, complain, compliment, correct me, do whatever!<p> 


	2. Chapter 2: Easy

**Chapter 2 "Easy"**

**Day 2**

The next morning, Robert woke up to the smell of homemade eggs and bacon, a scent he hadn't smelled in many years. For a moment, he thought that he was at his grandmother's house, and that she had made him breakfast. He then remembered everything that had happened. How that man had died. How LaRissa had been bitten. And that he and his friends were now living under the roof of strangers on a farm in the middle of nowhere.

Robert was average height, at about 5'9". He was quite thin, after years of hard work and being taunted by his peers. His interests were all about the internet and his friends. He valued those around him very much.

Robert raised out of bed and was about to put on the clothes he wore yesterday, but he was surprised to see that they were gone. In their place were fresh clothes: a fresh pair of blue jeans, black socks, plain black boxers, and a green plaid short-sleeved button-up. He put them on and went downstairs, where he saw Annette and Beth working at the stove, while Hershel was at the table reading a newspaper, with Shawn and Arnold sitting next to him. Hershel looked over to see Robert standing at the stairs and smiled. "Good morning, son! Did you sleep well?" Robert nodded, giving a slight smile in return.

"I see you found my clothes," said Shawn. "I have way too many anyway, and since you lost all your luggage yesterday, we decided it wouldn't be any harm to lend y'all some clothes. Beth and Maggie gave some of their clothes to your friends, too." Shawn looked to be in his mid to late twenties, and had stunning eyes of hazel. He was wearing a plain white shirt, as he often did, and blue jeans just like the pair Robert was given. Like his father and step-cousin, he wore brown, worn-out cowboy-style boots. His smile was enticing, and he looked very friendly. His dad was almost the opposite, fat and wrinkly, with squinty, dark eyes, in frumpier, duller-colored old man clothes, including brown overalls. According to Maggie discussing his birthday a few weeks back, he was 72. Arnold was a very plump, nerdy-looking man, who seemed a bit shy. He was wearing a plain black shirt, with a denim coat on top of it, and pants to match. He was Maggie's cousin. Hershel's first wife was named Josephine, and he had Maggie with her. She died sometime later, and he remarried to Annette, who had Shawn from a previous marriage. The two then had Beth. Arnold was Josephine's brother Jonathan's son, and was visiting for the summer.

Annette, their mother, was pretty for her age. She had very long brown hair that went to her lower back, though most often it was up in a bun. She must have been about fifty, and she liked to wear long dresses, and was currently in a floral dress with comfortable white tennis shoes. Beth was a very attractive girl, just like her older sister Maggie. Beth had long blonde hair and was quite scrawny, wearing a tight yellow top and a tight pair of beige pants. Maggie was the opposite, with short brunette hair, and seemed to be more fit, with a very shapely figure. She wore a brown shirt with blue jean shorts and black boots.

Robert joined the men at the table, making small talk. Lily and Lyrik came down the stairs about twenty minutes later, dressed in fresh clothes that seemed a bit long on them since both of them were quite short, while Beth and Maggie were much taller. Lily was wearing a red shirt with blue jeans. She was a very short girl with a bit of meat on her and mid-length brunette hair. Lyrik was almost a mirror image in terms of proportions, except she was dark-skinned with quite short, nappy, black hair, and the clothes she were wearing of Maggie's were a white long-sleeved top and jeans.

Seeing them made Robert remember LaRissa, who was as plump as the other two girls, but was just as tall as Robert and had long, reddish-brown hair. "How's LaRissa doing?" he asked.

Hershel seemed to remember something as well, and he half-smiled at Robert. "Go see for yourself," he said. Robert looked to Lyrik and Lily and the three ran upstairs to LaRissa's room. She was awake. She was still quite weak, but she was eating and drinking.

Though obviously in pain, LaRissa smiled at them as they came in. "Guys, hey," she said. They smiled back at her. "I know I don't look so good-"

Lily laughed to herself. "Don't look so good now? Should have seen yourself before this happened!" Robert and Lyrik looked to Lily, slightly shocked she couldn't keep her humor to herself at a time like this.

LaRissa half-smiled weakly. "But thank you so much for helping me out, bringing me here. I'd be dead if you guys didn't do anything."

Looking at her, Robert was getting concerned. Even though Hershel had helped fix the bite wound, LaRissa still didn't look very good. She was still wearing the same clothes from yesterday, and the pink sheer top was now stained with blood and dirt. She looked even more ill than when they arrived. Robert thought to himself, You're dead anyways, but smiled at her, and reassured her, "Of course. We're best friends."

Annette walked in and told them that LaRissa needed her rest, and that Hershel could use their help. She smiled at LaRissa as she closed the door behind them and led them back to the kitchen. As they were eating, they spoke solemnly about LaRissa. "I'm just sayin'," Lyrik said, "I'm pretty sure LaRissa's not gonna make it."

Hershel took them outside and showed them around his land. He asked if Robert's group were willing or able in any way to help out around here while they stayed. They all agreed to help with anything Hershel needed, whether it be helping to take care of LaRissa or helping with the animals. Robert then volunteered to help with the farming, realizing that Hershel probably had more things in mind for us to do than to laze around until someone or something gets sick. Lily quickly caught on and joined, as well. Hershel smiled at them and nodded his head.

"Great," he said. "For now, let's go back and tidy up a spare bedroom or two. We have a few people movin' in, and we should make room for everybody. They can't live in town anymore. It's way too dangerous with all the walkers around. People turnin' left and right." They nodded politely, only being able to imagine what being surrounded by what they experienced yesterday at all times would be like. They all turned and went back to the house to make room.

* * *

><p>Due to the new additions to the household, Robert was forced to move in with LaRissa. LaRissa had come down with a very heavy fever later that day, and couldn't move at all without experiencing crippling pain. That night, Robert was sitting next to LaRissa in her bed, and he was talking to her as she drifted to sleep about how they should get back on the road soon, to get back to Hobbs, assuming that the walkers were disposed of, having seen very few here in Hershel's secluded lands.<p>

"We should get back on the road as soon as we can," Robert said, looking down to meet LaRissa's eyes, but they were closed.

"I'm sorry," LaRissa forced out.

"Don't be. It's not your fault that psychopath — what was it, Jackson? — put you in danger. To be honest, I'm kinda glad he's dead now." Robert looked back down at her. She was so pale. She looked very weak. If she didn't start getting better soon, this might be the end for her. He looked away, out of the window, watching clouds roll in. "You're gonna to make it," he said, trying to reassure himself more than he was her.

After a long silence, her wheezing breath faded out. Robert's breath caught. He slowly looked to her, hoping she was simply yawning, or stretching. Of course, she wasn't. She wasn't breathing at all. Robert began to panic. He began shaking her, and she was so frail, so weak. He put his ear to her chest. Nothing.

Robert got off the bed and ran to Hershel's bedroom door. He pounded his fists against the wood. "Hershel! Annette! Get up, I need you right now!"

"Just a second! I'm coming!" Hershel yelled through the closed door.

"I think LaRissa's dead!" Robert screamed, running back to LaRissa. Hershel came out a few moments later dressed in blue flannel pajamas with some serious bed head, followed by Annette, wearing only her underwear with a yellow robe over them. They rushed into LaRissa and Robert's room, and checked for vitals. Seeing no response, Hershel decided to try CPR.

Despite all of their attempts, Hershel got no response. He pronounced her as dead, and lifted the sheet over her head. Robert grabbed his stuff and decided to bunk with Lily and Lyrik that night, not wanting to sleep next to the dead body of one of his closest friends.

"I hate to say it, but I told you so," Lyrik said. Lily rolled her eyes, noticing Robert was very upset.

"Come on, Lyrik, really?" Lily questioned angrily. "We all know you don't hate to say that., but this is not the time for that shit."

Robert ignored the whole conversation, and rolled over on the bed they made him on the floor, facing away from them. He cried himself to sleep, thinking about all the things he hadn't gotten to say to her. How much she must have suffered before she finally just let go. How her last words were "I'm sorry." The entire situation was awful, and he couldn't believe that LaRissa was dead! This had to be a dream. This was unreal. Lily and Lyrik did their best to comfort him, to the point that they both began to cry, too. Tonight, they lost a true friend, and they would never forget it.


	3. Chapter 3: Turned

**Chapter 3 "Turned"**

**Day 3**

It was a dark, warm summer night. Clouds were heavily rolling in, making the dark night even darker. It was about 4:00 A.M., about an hour and a half before anyone usually woke up in the house. A loud thud was heard from LaRissa's room that woke up Annette. At first she thought it was Robert getting up for something, but then she remembered that Robert went to bed with Lily and Lyrik. Annette slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She slipped on her favorite, mauve pink robe off of the coat hanger by her bed. She loved to collect robes and had a row of them. Baby blue, yellow, black, white, pastel green, flannel, red just for Hershel, and her favorite one that her mother gave her for her birthday many years ago: mauve pink.

She made her way to LaRissa's room and put her ear against the door, thinking someone could have went in there to be with her, or to claim something of hers now that she's dead. After hearing only what sounded like soft moaning, she called out.

"Hello? Is anyone in there?" Her words were met by an even louder growl, and what sounded like footsteps towards the door. "LaRissa?"

Another groan was made in reply. Annette smiled widely. LaRissa's awake! It's a miracle! she thought to herself. She opened the door quickly, arms wide open to hug LaRissa, but all too late Annette realized that LaRissa was very pale, and was baring her teeth at her. She screamed, and fell backwards. As she fell, LaRissa swiped at her, and grabbed onto her robe's sleeve, dragging the undead girl down, too. LaRissa fell onto Annette and she screamed again, trying hard to push against LaRissa's weight. Hershel opened the door to his bedroom investigating the screams, and saw the fresh walker on his wife, and went back to search his closet for his gun.

Though she put in her best effort, Annette was quite a frail, old woman, and she soon lost her ability to fight against LaRissa's weight. LaRissa bit right into Annette's face, eating at her flesh. A hole was left in place of where the old woman's left cheek once was. LaRissa continued eating, swallowing down the nose and going for more.

Hershel finally arrived with the shotgun, and pretty much everyone who was asleep was now awake, standing in the hall, witnessing the horrific event. Patricia screamed in horror, burying her face into Otis's chest. Beth tried running to her mother, but Jimmy held her back. Hershel drew back a tear, and aimed his shotgun at LaRissa's chest, but she continued eating. He gasped, and took a step backwards in shock. Annette was now dead underneath LaRissa. LaRissa looked up and growled at him.

The growl provoked Hershel. He glared at LaRissa. His eyes were filled with rage. This creature, no longer a person, attacked his wife, attacked his family. He stood up, holding back more tears and shot the walker again in the neck, and when that failed, he shot her between the eyes. She fell, and he knew what he had to do. He pointed his gun down at Annette, unconscious. He shot her right in the head, doing his best to remain composed.

He looked up. Robert, Lyrik, Patricia, and Beth were in tears. Otis, Lily, Arnold, Maggie, Jimmy, and Shawn looked on in disbelief, pure shock. "Let's get this cleaned up," Hershel said in a shaky, yet firm voice.

Maggie took LaRissa's sheets off of her bed, and handed them both to Hershel. Shawn and Hershel lifted Annette's body up and wrapped it in the sheet, and then they repeated it with LaRissa. The two lifted Annette up and carried her downstairs. As they were going down, Hershel instructed Arnold and Otis to grab LaRissa's body. They carried the two outside to the front steps and into a wheelbarrow they used for gardening. Shawn pushed them to a nice spot in the field, underneath two big trees. Otis and Shawn began digging graves as the sun rose below the clouds in the distance.

* * *

><p>Later that day, when the two were done, a funeral was held. Their bodies were lowered into the graves and buried. Hershel conducted the funeral. "Today, we're here to mourn the loss of two kind individuals. Annette Greene, my dear wife, and LaRissa Masterson, a dear friend. Though the body is withered...or maimed...the soul lives on. They are with God now, looking down to us," Hershel looked up, into the only clear spot of sky through the clouds. He shed a tear, and looked back down. "I'm sorry," he whispered. He composed himself, and looked up. "Does anyone have any words they'd like to share?"<p>

Surprisingly, Beth stepped forward first. Her boyfriend, Jimmy, loosed his hold of her, and let her go forward. "A long time ago, I was told a poem by one of my friends in school. I wrote that poem down because it was so beautiful. I want to share it with you all… I want to share it with you, mom."

Beth looked up, and closed her eyes. She moved her head back towards the graves, eyes still closed. She reached into her pocket, and pulled out the piece of paper. She opened her eyes, her expression as though it were painful to open them. Painful to accept her mother's fate. She began to recite the poem.

"Every time that I smile,

Every time that I sigh,

I think of your face,

And a tear escapes my eye.

You were my world,

My inspiration and my heart,

But when you left me,

I thought I would fall apart.

You were my best friend,

My one true 'confidante',

And that's not all you were,

You were also my mom.

I didn't want to live without you,

But you would have wanted me to,

And if there's anyone I want to make happy,

That anyone is you.

I would have given anything to have you back,

But I know now that it was meant to be,

For you are still watching from up there,

And I know you're watching me.

I'll make you proud mom,

I'm going to fulfill your wish,

You're going to see me and smile,

That's a daughter's promise."

She folded the paper back up, and clutched it in her fist. Nearly everyone was crying, or on the verge of it. The Greenes were a mess, weeping into one another, Shawn and Maggie hugging each other tightly. Beth turned back to Jimmy, who went to give her a big hug, but she rejected him.

Hershel again was letting his emotions overcome him. Through his weeping, he said, "Anyone else?"

Robert stepped forward, looking a bit nervous. "I don't have a beautiful poem, or any memorized or planned thing to say. But I have my memories. The sentiments and love. I just wanted to speak on behalf of LaRissa, since not many of you here knew her very well. And sadly, now you never will get the chance to. LaRissa was a good person. Sometimes, her intent may have been to seem better than she thinks she is, trying to overcompensate for what she doesn't need to. Doubting herself every step of the way. But everything she did, she did with a good heart. She meant well at all times. Never did she attack or hurt a person that hadn't wronged her in some way. She didn't deserve to die. Not this early. She had so much to live for. Though she won't be able to live further, she will always be on my mind. I will never forget her. And I hope none of you do, either. Thank you."

Robert stepped back, and Lily wrapped her arm into his to let him know she was there for him. Hershel, now much more composed, nodded to everyone, signalling for someone else to speak if they so wished. When no one did, he spoke up, "Anyone? Maggie?" The brunette shook her head at her father, and he looked to Shawn, who was crying, staring at the ground. Hershel nodded his head, and brought the funeral to a close. Everyone went inside to get started on dinner and to move on.

Right after dinner, Hershel locked himself in his room, and wasn't heard from again until the next morning. This became a dark, sad, almost horrifying habit.

* * *

><p><em>DISCLAIMER: the poem recited by Beth is not my own, and is titled "A Mother's Promise" by Allie B. Quaglieri. No copyright infringement is intended.<em>


	4. Chapter 4: Get Out

**Chapter 4 "Get Out"**

**Day 9**

It had been nearly a week since LaRissa and Annette passed. Since, Hershel has kept himself locked up in his room, constantly drinking or weeping. He refuses to open the door, and will only come out to use the restroom or to eat. Beth and Shawn, similarly, have spent most of their time alone in the fields, or just being very distant. With Shawn and Hershel down, Otis, Arnold, Jimmy, and Robert's group have stepped up to fill in the role of farmer, making sure everything that needs to get tended to does.

On this morning, Otis tried to convince Hershel to come out and be with the group. Hershel opened the door and spit some of his alcohol at Otis's chest. He noticed Robert and Lily observing, and yelled at them. "It's your fault that Annette is dead! I want you off of my property, now! Leave, and don't you ever come back!"

Maggie, Patricia, Arnold, and Jimmy came out of their rooms, hearing the commotion. All of them defended Robert's group. "Daddy," Maggie began, "you need to stop that right now! You know it's not their fault. It ain't no one's fault. We couldn't have known." Arnold and Jimmy nodded their heads.

"Hershel, you know I love you, and you know I loved Annette," Patricia said, "but you are acting like a right jackass right now. These people have been nothing but kind and helpful since they've gotten here. If you kick them out, Otis and I are leaving with them."

"Me too," said Arnold.

"Same here," Maggie added. "You have no right to kick these people out. I know you lost your wife, but we lost our mama. Our aunt. Our best friend. We're all hurting, but we have to move on." Maggie walked up to her dad and grabbed the alcohol out of his hand and threw it out of the nearest window, right into the wheelbarrow outside.

Hershel, still drunk, hiccuped. He had a look of defeat on his face. Wordlessly, he retreated back to his room, slamming the door behind him.

Robert and Lily approached the others and hugged them. "I didn't know you guys cared that much about us," Lily said.

Maggie smiled at us, "Of course! We love y'all. We've been through a lot now, haven't we? If we didn't care for you by now, we'd be heartless."

* * *

><p>At dinner, when Hershel came down, there was an awkward air about the room. Instead of grabbing the food and going back to his room, he took his place at the head of the table and ate with everyone. The others tried to carry on despite the awkwardness. Finally, after about twenty minutes of small talk, trying to ignore the shady elephant in the room, Hershel cleared his throat and spoke up.<p>

"I just want to apologize to Robert, Lily, and Lyrik. And," he paused, "to everyone. I've been a 'right jackass' to everyone, I understand. And I want to make up for that. I lost my wife, and I wasn't dealing with it well. I took it out on you people, and I drowned my sorrow in vodka. And I want to re-extend my invitation to you three. They're right, you know," he said, looking to his family who had yelled at him earlier, and then to Robert, Lily, and Lyrik. "You three are a tremendous help. And I appreciate everything you've all done to accommodate for the...mourning I went through."

He smiled at them for a few seconds, and after getting no response, he picked up his fork again, digging back into his food. Everyone laughed at the weird tension, and began talking as if there had never been any rifts in the group. They were beginning to feel like a family.


	5. Chapter 5: New

**Chapter 5 "New" **

**Day 11**

One beautiful, breezy day, the group decided to have an outdoor picnic. Patricia, Lyrik, Beth, and Maggie chipped in to make a nice feast. They brought out the foldable table and chairs, and took them outside to watch the sunset and have a family dinner. They stayed there and chatted for a very long time.

Soon, it was getting quite dark, and the group decided to start cleaning up. As they were beginning to carry it in, a car turned the corner to the farm about half a mile out. Stunned, no one moved for at least a minute.

Snapping into action, Beth, Jimmy, Patricia, and Lyrik realized that this is people. Actual, new people. They ran to the side of the road, waving their arms, flashing their flashlights at the cars, trying to get their attention.

The car slowed down, noticing the four. It pulled in right next to them, and the person driving it was a very buff man with half-blonde, half-black hair, and a moderately long black beard. "Well, howdy, there," he said, seeming to mock the group's southern-style clothes. "The name's Seth. What's yours?"

The girls were obviously very interested in him, as they all failed to find words. Jimmy spoke up for them. As Jimmy introduced them, Seth's eyes went to the crowd standing in the field, barely taking notice of them. He realized that this farm was their home, and that they were a big group. He smiled, and turned back to Jimmy just as he finished.

"I'm sorry, son, you'll have to say that again. I got distracted. Mind if I get out and you introduce us to all of them, as well?"

"Uh, sure, I guess so," Jimmy replied.

Seth pulled in and parked the car on the far side of the barn, out of sight from most of the road. He got out, followed by four white women and a black man. "Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to mention all of my friends here." He pointed to the black man who was now standing next to him in a white shirt with a blue overshirt and dark jeans, "This here's Lee. He's my good buddy. He helped me out of my apartment building when this all started." He pointed to a woman with short, black hair who seemed very shy, and said that her name is Jessie. She wore a light green shirt and stained grey pants.

A young brunette girl, no older than sixteen, introduced herself as Allison. She had very large, Harry Potter-like glasses, and was wearing a pink tank top with matching shoes and blue shorts. A very scrawny woman with bleached blonde hair raised her hand and said that she was named Amanda. She very obviously does, or did, drugs judging by her appearance, her face looking sunken in and damaged. She wore all white — though there were some grass and dirt stains — a too-small tube top and shorts. Seth pointed to the final girl, a blonde, middle-aged woman who had obviously just gotten done crying. She was wearing a red and pink striped shirt and a pair of frumpy cargo pants. "Excuse her, I'm sorry. She just lost her son."

Jessie looked to the ground, upset at Seth's words. "I guess I did, too," she said, obviously having history with Seth.

"You don't know that, Jessie," Seth retorted. "Sorry Erin, but we actually saw her son die, Jessie. Yours was lost when we tried to escape the Atlanta refugee center. He could be with other survivors." The two glared at each other for a few moments, which seemed very suspicious to Robert and Hershel. "Anyways, sorry," Seth said, realizing how awkward things had just gotten. "You were saying, your names?"

Jimmy was stumbling over the names, so Hershel took over for him, introducing himself, his family, Robert's group, Otis, Patricia, and Jimmy. "So, what do you want?" Hershel inquired.

"Well, I don't know," Seth began. "What do most survivors want? Food, home, friends. You all are the ones that flagged us down. We have supplies in our vehicle, and we can combine inventories. We could team up. It's a rough world out there. You all probably don't know how bad it is, do you? People dying everywhere out there. Y'all got it good here? We can help you all out. Do you need guns? We have plenty! So what do you say?" Seth smiled widely and looked between everyone at the farm. "Can we be a part of your group?"

Everyone looked to Hershel, seeing him as their unofficial leader. He looked between everyone, with a few people nodding, and only Robert shaking his head no. After a long period of silence, he looked into Seth's eyes, and said "Alright. You can join us. But remember two things. If you try to hurt a single one of us, you're all dead. These people are my family, and if you hurt them, you'll regret it. Second, if you live here, you will be expected to help out, at least a little bit. Help keep the house clean, do chores, help out with animals, the lands, and anyone who needs help."

Seth nodded his head and looked to his people. They all nodded at him, and he smiled back to Hershel. "So we're in?" he asked for clarification. Hershel nodded his head again. A wave of happiness washed across Seth's face. He turned to his caravan of survivors. "Let's get everything out, and pass out weapons!"

* * *

><p>About an hour later, Patricia and Lyrik made up the only bedroom left, and Hershel told them that they could either pile in to it or sleep in the living room. Lily told them that their friend died in the room they were trying to move into, and Erin and Jessie freaked out, wailing like babies. Seth rolled his eyes when he thought no one was looking, though Robert and Lily caught it, and he told them they would sleep in the living room. Shawn and Arnold helped them move a few mattresses downstairs, grumbling the whole way down. Seth, Jessie, and Erin slept on couches while Lee, Allison, and Amanda slept on beds on the floor.<p>

Robert was sitting in his room, listening to the quiet of the house. Expecting the newcomers to be dangerous. Lily and Lyrik told him he should stop being so paranoid and just go to bed, but he couldn't help but worry. "Robert," Lily had told him, "they gave us weapons. They wouldn't do that if they planned to kill us." Though she had a point, Robert couldn't shake the feeling of uneasiness. After about thirty minutes of just staring out of the window, listening, he began to drift to sleep, against his better judgement.

Downstairs, the new group was trying to get some much-needed rest. Seth was obviously upset about having to sleep on a couch when he could have been upstairs in a bed. He felt that Jessie and Erin were way too sensitive. They're not the only ones who lost people they love and care for, he thought to himself. What gives them the right to be so whiney? I lost my dad, fiancé, and daughter, and I'm fuckin' fine.

Seth is 28 years old and was a professional wrestler for the past few years, until he was fired for not complying with his advertising contracts. He had a fiancé named Leighla who was devoured when she was bitten by a walker and he took her to the hospital on day 2 for treatment. They entered, looking for doctors, but were met instead by a large crowd of walkers, and they ambushed Leighla, eating into her. He went to find his family later that day, but found his father dead on his couch, with blood splatters all over the walls and a shotgun in his hands, pointed at himself. In the back of the house, he found his 5-year-old daughter, Hayleigh, locked into the bathroom with wounds on her. She had been bitten, and was very weak. She told Seth that her grandmother died, and that she attacked Hayleigh. After she was bitten, her grandpa came in and saved her, putting down his wife. Later, he told her to stay in the bathroom and not come out, no matter what she hears. She heard a single gunshot, and then nothing except for noises from outside for hours. She died within the next few hours, turned, and Seth was forced to put her down. Driving deeper into the city, Seth found a government-run safe-zone in Atlanta, and he stayed there. On day 6, it fell, and he escaped the place with Jessie and Allison.

Jessie is a 32-year-old woman who used to be a student in college, trying to get her degree so that she could become a teacher. She had an abusive husband named Peter who constantly got in the way, and eventually got her kicked out of college because of him forcing her to stay home. Together, they had a young son named Ron, a brunet 7-year-old with a buzzcut his father insisted he should have. When the outbreak happened, they found sanctuary at the government-run safe-zone in Atlanta on day 2. It didn't take very long for that to fall, however. Escaping, her husband was shot accidentally by a man trying to aim at a walker. Her son was separated from her, and she fears that he may be dead. Ron was visiting with his little friends when the safe-zone fell, and her priority was finding him. She noticed him run out of the building with a blonde woman, a man, and many other kids, including some of his friends, but walkers followed them out, and she had no choice but to escape in the opposite direction with two complete strangers, Seth and Allison.

Erin lost her son, as well. She was a single mother at the age of 27 who had two jobs working at two different convenience stores. Her son, Owen, was the first person she knew to die during the outbreak. He was a 9-year-old boy with glasses and dark hair he inherited from his father. He came home from his friend's house and said that he saw a dog run down an alley and he chased after it. When he found it, though, he saw a man hurting it, and he threw rocks at the man, and the man attacked him. He was bitten, taken to the hospital, and died very shortly after. He turned, and killed his nurse. Erin panicked and escaped the hospital as chaos ensued behind her. She went home, gathered what she thought might be useful or sentimental and went to find her best friend, Amanda.

Amanda is a young woman at the age of 24. She and Erin went to the same school as kids, and basically grew up together as next-door neighbors. When she was 13, Amanda's parents divorced, and her dad won custody of her, so she had to move, but remained in Atlanta. They stopped talking, but rekindled their friendship when they entered high school. When her mother and father divorced, she realized how awful her mother was, and she grew to resent both of her parents. After Erin graduated high school, Amanda fell into a bad crowd. They got her hooked on a plethora of addictive substances; cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, cannabis, alcohol, and a few less common ones, even some that her friends would make mixing up some of the drugs together. Thanks to Erin, she recovered from her habits after she graduated high school. Erin helped send her to rehab, and turned Amanda's life around. These days, it was hard not to slip back into her old habits. She can't promise anyone, even herself, that if she finds anything she used to be hooked on that she won't try it. They met Seth, Jessie, and Allison at nightfall on day 6, after their refugee center fell, and they joined forces.

Allison is 15 years old. She's what many would call a nerd, most of her time being devoted to reading or writing, even studying for fun. She was with Jessie when she escaped Atlanta. Her mom had died when she was born, and her father was in jail, so she was a part of a girl's home that decided to take refuge in the safe-zone. Many of the girls in the home were cruel, stealing her personal belongings, teasing her for being nerdy, and generally just being assholes. When the safe-zone fell, she saw her chance to rid herself of her past, and followed Seth and Jessie out of the building.

Lastly, Lee was a tall, thin black man, who was moderately built. He is 29, and was on his way to the state penitentiary on day 1, but his car crashed on the side of the road. Luckily, a person driving down the road saw the crash and got out to help any survivors, which was only Lee, as the officer died in the crash. As Lee was a criminal, the people who helped him got him back on his way to the state prison, but when they arrived, it was a horror show, with walkers everywhere, and a few officers alive, screaming at the driver to flee. They left and retreated to the safe-zone that was established in Atlanta, and were among the first people to arrive. There, Lee drifted from the people who saved him, as they were quite odd freaks with way-too-strong morals. When the safe-zone fell, he locked himself in a back room and waited for the chaos to end, which was late into day 8. By that time, most of the walkers had wandered off to go chase a stray gunshot or any other thing of interest. He gathered what few supplies were left, including raiding the dead bodies of those who died during the fall, and used them to get out of Atlanta. He found Seth and everyone else holed up in a house in a small town outside of Atlanta on day 9, and they welcomed him to the group.

These six people are good people, speaking factually. They may have faults and prejudices, but they aren't the type to murder strangers for their supplies. They are, however, carrying a big secret that will definitely not be helpful for their new group.


	6. Chapter 6: Followed

**Chapter 6 "Followed" **

**Day 15**

Since the new group arrived, they have very much improved Hershel's group's survival rate. Occasionally, they would have a stray walker or two come out of the woods. To take care of the issue of walking outside and being met with a walker standing in the yard, Seth suggested they have a lookout at all time, and that they could take shifts. They assisted in all of the jobs, and now the farm is almost ready for growing.

They had enough guns to get every Greene family member armed, as well as Robert, Lily, Otis, and Jimmy. The two days after they arrived, they took the others into town, to the local firing range, and taught them quite a bit about shooting and aiming, as well as quickly reloading.

Everyone in the group, including Robert, has begun to warm up to the new group quite a lot. They have been very nice, and none of them have seemed too threatening. The only one who seemed suspicious to Robert was Seth, who seemed to be hiding a lot of things. Everyone else was either a sad mother or an average, frail citizen, and thus didn't alert Robert to any suspicions.

They seemed to be quite paranoid, or on the lookout, or something. It seemed quite off to the original group. They were constantly volunteering for lookout duty, or staring outside windows to the road. Hershel, Patricia, and Arnold, having already grown much closer to them than some of the more suspicious, said that they were probably just working extra hard to show that they can pull their weight. To prove that they are worth keeping around, because they must have seen and experienced quite terrible things. Finally, however, on this day, they were beginning to ease up, and they decided to let Arnold have night shift as lookout so that they could all finally get some much-needed rest.

The thing is, they truly were hiding something. And they chose the worst night to give up lookout duty. They made a very big mistake in letting their guard down, and it was going to come back to bite them in the ass.

Arnold got onto watch duty just around sundown, right after dinner. He went upstairs and climbed onto the roof through Hershel's window to take his position for the night. He brought up his favorite magazine for when it gets too quiet, and a fresh cup of coffee for just in case.

* * *

><p>Hours and hours passed, way past midnight, and the only thing he saw was a stray walker crossing from one side of the field to the other, being swallowed back into the forest like a balloon floating to the sky and vanishing.<p>

About an hour before sunrise, Arnold was getting very tired. He went inside for a quick refill of coffee. He climbed in through Hershel's window, being careful not to wake the man. Arnold made his way in, and slipped through the door downstairs, passing by many doors, holding many loved ones. When he got downstairs, he was careful to step lightly, so as to not wake up Seth's group. In the kitchen, he found he had drank all of the coffee in the pot, it empty, aside from a thin layer of coffee in the bottom. He poured what little he could into his cup, and started up a new pot. Paranoid, and knowing it would take about twenty minutes for the coffee to make, he headed back upstairs and out through the window to return to his post.

He sat back on the roof, and sipped at what little coffee he had. By his third sip, it was gone, and he groaned to himself, putting his head in his hands. Then, he heard a low rumble that took him off guard. He lifted his head from his hands. It was a vibrating sound, and it felt like a small earthquake. He nearly brushed it off before he noticed movement up the road. There, a large truck covered in blood was driving up, followed by a small car with long paint scratches on one side. Their headlights were turned off, and they were moving quite slowly. The drivers were trying not to be noticed. _They're either looking for something, _Arnold though to himself, _or they know we're here, and they want something. God, I hope they just want to join us._

Arnold readied his gun, pointing it into the windshield of the bloodsplattered truck in the lead. Looking through the sniper, he saw a large, dark man, who appeared to be either Hispanic or simply very tanned. He had muscles ripping at the seams and a handlebar mustache. In the passenger seat was a smaller, though still quite fit, white man with a buzzcut. He had an angry sneer on him, and a blade of wheat between his teeth. Arnold sighed, _These sure don't look like nice people._

As the vehicles neared the house, Arnold pressed against the house, right next to Hershel's window, attempting to blend in. He kept his sniper up, and watched the people in the vehicles studying the house, though they were looking more at the grounds around the farm, eyeing up vehicles and things outside, such as tables, and occasionally trying to see through windows. They were nearly surrounded by the trees again, on the exit of the road off of the farm, when the car stopped. The truck soon took notice and stopped, as well. A flashlight turned on in the car, and first was directed to the back window of the truck, then the beam turned, and shone in a direction Arnold couldn't see. He scooted closer to the edge of the house as the roof creaked below him, and saw that the beam was on the vehicle Seth's group arrived in.

Arnold angrily sighed to himself. _I guess Robert was right. Why did those bitches have to flag Seth and his fucks down?_

After a few moments of the flashlight's beam scanning the car, presumably making sure it's the right one, the light turned off, and the vehicles began moving, quicker this time. Arnold felt a rush of relief. _They were mistaken. This isn't the car they're looking for._ He lowered his gun, and began to smile. Then, the truck made a sharp u-turn, the car following. Their headlights blazed to life, blinding Arnold instantly. He fumbled, attempting to raise his gun, but struggling to find the right parts of it in the bright light.

The cars drove up into the yard, and parked right below the part of the house Arnold was pressed up against. Arnold's eyes finally adjusted to the light, and he squinted, his gun up and finger on the trigger. The strangers climbed out of the cars, and stood right in front of them, silhouettes standing in the headlights. There was about ten of them. The big, strong one lifted his gun, using his sniper in the same manner Arnold was. As he was about to fire, he realized that this man was unfamiliar. He lowered his gun back down. "Who are you?" called the stranger.

"What's it to you?" Arnold replied, sneering.

"It's not worth much to me," the tan leader replied, "but I'm sure it means quite a lot to you, considering your answer determines your fate here." The other silhouettes around him raised their guns in unison. Arnold considered lowering his, but was too afraid to move.

"A-" he paused, "Arnold Greene."

The leader nodded his head in response. "Well, Arnold, have you seen any people around recently? A group of four? Maybe a bit more? Their leader's a dude with dual-colored hair, pretty built. Traveling with a black guy and two weak girls. Unless they died by now. Ringing any bells, Arno?"

Arnold's breath caught. What should he say? What happened? Were the people in Seth's group bad people? Murderers? Thieves? Arnold realized the gravity of the situation, nine guns pointed at him, ready to fire, and snapped back into it. With a twinge of immediate regret, he said yes.

"Just as I thought. Well, Arny-boy, I'm going to need you to let me in. Immediately. They are inside, yes?"

Beginning to panic, Arnold told them to wait while he got his leader. The silhouetted stranger turned to the person right next to him and they whispered to themselves. They agreed to let Arnold in, but if he took longer than five minutes, their house would become Swiss cheese.

Quickly, Arnold got to his feet, shoved the window open, and could be heard from where the strangers were standing, shouting inaudibly.

Hershel, rudely awakened, quickly slipped on pants and a jacket and grabbed his pre-loaded shotgun. He slipped on his shoes as Arnold slipped back out the window to buy more time. Hershel made his way out of his room and woke up Otis and Patricia, and told them to get everybody up and ready to fight immediately. He made his way downstairs, and woke up Seth and Jessie, before he heard the leader outside yell, obviously getting annoyed at Arnold. Hershel quickly went out of the door.

"I'm here, I'm here. I'm old, damn it," Hershel said, trying to cover for his slowness.

Upstairs, Otis and Patricia were waking everyone up. They grabbed their guns, and some of them shoved their most prized possessions into their pockets, or grabbed bags they had packed in case they needed to make a quick escape. They all readied their guns, making sure they were loaded and ready to go, and positioned themselves in windows or in safer areas, to wait out the gunfire or to provide a safety area in case someone got injured and needed medical attention as soon as possible.

Downstairs, Seth panicked. He knew what was going on. If he or one of his people were on lookout duty, they would have seen the truck coming and could have done something. Hidden the car more, drove it out of there, killed the dangerous group on sight. Anything would have been better than this. Better than ruining their chances at the group ever trusting them again. Better than having this safe, beautiful farm possibly being destroyed. Certainly better than having these good, trustable, amazing people die for something that was in no way their fault. He gathered his group, armed them, and they positioned themselves in the windows, ready to fight for this place.

"So you're the leader?" the silhouetted stranger asked Hershel. "You seem to be quite.. elderly for a leader."

"Doesn't mean I can't keep people in line, or that I can't keep them safe," Hershel said, his eyes hardening with anger.

"Well, whatever man. I don't care about you or Augustus Gloop up there on your roof. I'm here to.. get my friends. Seth, I believe one goes by." Though it couldn't be seen, it was obvious the man was smiling at what he had just said.

The conversation lasted for as long as Hershel could manage, and it eventually went out of control when it became apparent that Hershel was trying to buy time. Arnold had sneaked back to the window, with one leg in and one leg out, his gun still up and ready to fire. Trying to be subtle, Hershel took a step back, and the door behind him was quietly opened slightly, so that Hershel could push past it and get inside if things got dirty. The leader took notice, however, and he raised his gun. "I'm sick of this shit," he said, and fired at Hershel, the bullet flying just barely past his head, chopping off a few white hairs. Hershel quickly turned and ran inside, throwing the door open and slamming it shut behind him, bullets firing from the windows of the house at the strangers. Arnold quickly tumbled inside, dodging the bullets coming his way, but falling flat onto his face and making a very loud thud throughout the house. He scrambled to his feet, ran out of Hershel's room, past Patricia and Lyrik, who were on medical duty, and went to Maggie's room to the right to help defend the farm.

The gunfire flew rapidly. Suddenly, with the blink of an eye, Allison was shot right between the eyes, falling lifelessly to the ground. Jessie and Erin ducked down, panicking, crying. "Get back up and fight for this fucking farm, goddamn it!" Seth screamed at them, filling with rage that they could just give up so easily. Jessie cautiously but quickly raised back up to the window and resumed firing. Erin, however, stayed down, afraid.

Upstairs, Otis, Shawn, Beth, Jimmy, Robert, Lily, Arnold, and Maggie were in a row, firing at the opposing group. Robert downed a woman, right in the heart. Beth got a headshot and smiled, pleased with herself, but tried to keep the firing going. Jimmy looked to her, and locked eyes with Beth, smiling at one another. He opened his mouth to congratulate her, but a bullet went right through his open mouth, flying out of the other side, and he fell to the floor, lifeless. Beth wailed, and got on her knees over him. "Patricia! Jimmy needs your help, now!" Patricia and Lyrik rushed in, keeping their heads low, and dragged Jimmy into the hallway to assist him, with Beth following behind. As soon as they lowered him back onto the ground, Patricia gasped and covered her mouth. The gun had passed through Jimmy's throat, just past his spine, missing his brain completely. If they had proper medical equipment, there's a chance he could be saved. Patricia looked up to Beth and grimly shook her head no.

The mysterious leader grew angry from ducking behind cars, having to deal with a group that could barely aim. Everyone in the farm should be dead by now. He killed someone on the ground floor, and a woman nailed someone upstairs, but she had been taken care of pretty much right after. He had lost five people out here, half of his group. He turned to his right-hand man, and nodded his head. The man with the buzzcut grabbed a bottle of liquor and ripped off a shred of a fabric they kept around for just this, and he put it in the mouth of the bottle. He turned to the leader, ready with a lighter, and lit the fabric. He threw it quickly to the house and it burst, setting the porch on fire.

"Fuck!" Seth yelled, and he pushed Jessie and Hershel from the windows and told them to get everyone and get out. They ran upstairs and got everyone they could to quickly come down. Hershel, Maggie, Shawn, Jessie, Robert, Lyrik, Lily, Arnold, and Otis came down the stairs with packs loaded and they ran out the back door into the two trucks they had; Hershel, Maggie, and Lily in the front seat of the blue truck, and Shawn, Lyrik, and Robert in the red truck. The formers were the drivers, and Otis, Arnold, and Jessie were in the back of the red truck. Otis and Arnold had their guns up, ready to fire in case one of the strangers came around this side of the house.

Inside, Patricia was screaming at Beth, crying for her to pull herself together and get into action. Finally, Patricia drew back and slapped her, and she stared at Patricia, stunned. Patricia took the opportunity to get her to her knees and to get the supplies so they could flee.

Downstairs, Seth's group was split. Lee had made it outside, and got in the back of the blue truck. Seth, Erin, and Amanda were inside, still. Erin was still on her knees, kneeling with her face on the ground, weeping into the floor, Allison's undead body lying in front of her. Amanda was yelling, watching the flames grow closer, inching in through the windows. "Erin, goddamn it, we have to leave now, or we will die! Don't you get that?"

Seth was kneeling over them, out of aim from the still-flying bullets in the front yard. "Look, either this place is going to fall, or we're gonna leave her here. She's not moving. We have to go, now!"

Amanda looked at Seth, horrified. "How could you say that? That we'd just leave her here?" Amanda pulled on Erin, but she screamed, an ugly, roaring scream of pain and anguish.

"Do you not see her? She was a mess before we ever got here. Seeing more people die was only ever going to set her off the edge. If she didn't break down now, she would have done it later. Now we can escape. If we leave now, we won't have to deal with her in the future, doing this again. She could get us _all _killed if that happens."

Behind him, Beth and Patricia ran through the back door, and Patricia turned to them, "Come on, we need to leave right now!"

Seth looked over his shoulder, and turned back to Amanda. Amanda stared at Erin, contemplating. An ember fell beside her, and she finally took notice of the flames encroaching, eating at the house. She looked back to Erin, and tears began falling. "I'm sorry," she said under her breath. Seth grabbed her by the arms and dragged her out. Bumps could be heard coming from upstairs, but there was no time to check what it was. Amanda began to regret her decision immediately, and tried fighting back once they got out of the back door.

Beth and Patricia were in the back of the blue truck, and Seth was fighting Amanda towards it, and she eventually gave up when she heard a large crash, knowing the front of the house had collapsed. The red truck took off, while Amanda and Seth climbed into the back of the blue one. As the truck was taking off, two walkers made their way from around the house, and a singed one came from inside. Amanda screamed to stop, thinking it was Erin, but it was walking too slowly, and they soon realized it was on fire when they thought the fire was simply the flames of the house. It was undead Jimmy, but no one knew that it was him and assumed it was one of the mystery group or a random walker that got in somehow. The truck kicked back to life, and chased after the red one.


	7. Chapter 7: What Just Happened?

**Chapter 7 "What Just Happened?" **

**Day 16**

The group has just suffered a tremendous loss. They lost the farm, most of their supplies, and the lives of three of their friends. Now, the were on the run, driving northwest. The sun rose above them, like a flag, symbolizing the new start they have been forced to make. They drove all day, passing through towns and cities, trying to make as much distance as possible between themselves and Senoia. After having passed a fourth town, the people in the red truck felt they were safe, and signalled that they were turning off onto a side road.

Shawn pulled over the red truck, and everyone got out of the seats or climbed out from the back. Soon, the blue truck drove by and Hershel pulled over and did the same.

As Hershel got out, he began, "So, where should we-" but was cut off by Shawn, who had been holding in his rage this whole time, letting it boil deep inside like a kettle ready to blow.

"What the fuck was that about?" He screamed, huffing and puffing over Seth. He turned to Lee and pointed, "Do you know anything about this shit?"

Everyone originally from Seth's group lowered their heads. "Yeah, we know what that was about," Lee said, speaking up. Seth looked him in the eyes, and they shared a knowing look.

"Those people," Seth paused, trying to find the right words. "Those people were actually the innocent ones. Well, not after that. But originally, we were the ones at fault. And we didn't know they would find us. We were hoping that they lost us. And on behalf of everyone, I'm sorry."

Shawn was angrier still. He waited, but Seth said nothing more, holding a guilty look on his face. "Are you gonna fucking tell me what the hell happened, or do I have to shoot all'a you one by one? Leave you all here? I fuckin' will!" He reached for his holster, about to grab his gun, but Hershel grabbed his arm, and looked him in the eyes, mutely telling him to calm down.

Seth sighed, scratched at his beard, and looked down. "We stole from them. We didn't _know_ we were stealing from them, though. We should have, but we foolishly thought that it was out for the taking. There was food, medicine, guns. Lots of stuff that we needed. And, it wasn't everyone in my group's fault, either. Amanda and Erin, they weren't with us at the time."

Shawn spat. "I don't believe you. How the hell did he know your car? Your _name_, Seth?"

Seth's face remained the same, unfazed. "Well, their leader saw us drive away with the stuff, which made us realize what we had taken just then was stolen. And I imagine he heard Allison say my name when we left." Seth lowered his head, and spoke with sincerity, "I'm truly sorry. Especially to you, Beth. I'm very sorry that you lost your boyfriend. But, you guys, you aren't the only ones who lost something last night. I lost two of my friends, Erin and Allison."

Beth looked down to the ground. "It's okay," she said. "I forgive you." She looked up to him, wiping away a tear. "But it's not really my place to forgive you. It was Jimmy's life. Not mine."

Seth lifted an eyebrow, not expecting that kind of response from her. He nodded to her.

Shawn looked to his sister, slightly shocked. Since Beth and Hershel let it go, he decided he should try to as well. He sighed, scratched his head, and leaned against a car, falling into the crowd.

Hershel looked between them and decided they were done arguing. "Well," he began, "as I was tryin' to say. Our priority right now is finding a place to stay, and soon. We're nearly runnin' on fumes, and we have very little sleep. Also, finding more vehicles couldn't hurt. Get people out of the cold, open back of a truck. Anyone got any suggestions?"

There was a long pause, and Maggie looked around. Down the highway, she spotted a sign. "Welcome to Palmetto," it read.

"Daddy, look. We're outside of Palmetto. We could go check on Fern."

"Fern?" Hershel questioned. It took him a second, but then the memory came back to him. "Fern, that girl who moved away a few years back? Maggie, I'm not sure that's a great idea. When was the last time you talked to her? And," he hesitated, looking to the ground, "there's a real good chance she's gone."

Maggie shook her head. "I know, Daddy. But if she's gone, her house could still be a great place to stay. Her parents kept it real nice. A farmhouse surrounded by forest, even has a little pond outside of it."

Hershel slowly nodded his head. "Alright. You lead the way," he said, and gestured for her to drive his truck there.

* * *

><p>They made it to Fern's house about twenty minutes after. Maggie had to constantly turn around, trying to recall the way to her friend's home. She turned down another one of the offshoots on a road, beginning to feel stupid, when the large pond materialized on the right side of her, the water shining beautifully, blindingly into the trucks. They made their way up the road, and were met with a few walkers roaming around the house.<p>

The walkers quickly took notice of them, and began trudging their way towards them. Maggie grabbed her gun and got out, taking down two walkers, Shawn taking out the third one. Maggie approached their dead bodies and sighed, slightly saddened. She recognized one to be Fern's father, Fernando. He had a large chunk of his neck missing, obviously eaten by walkers. The other two walkers appeared to be strays, or possibly other survivors that were with him when he died.

Hershel stood over her and put his hand on his daughter's shoulder. She turned to him, her expression unbothered. "It's alright, Daddy. She wasn't my best friend or anything. I'll be fine, so long as the house is."

They began walking into the house, and Lily gave Robert a worried look. They both had their guns ready, but Lily seemed to be a bit afraid of what could lie inside. If it's something awful, Maggie could be very upset by what she finds. If it's anything too gruesome, they may just have to move on and find another place, which could be dangerous.

Shawn entered the house first, his gun at the ready. In the living room was five walkers, meandering around aimlessly. Maggie, Robert, and Otis followed in directly after. Maggie noticed that the walker farthest from them was Fern. She frowned and lowered her gun slightly. Gunfire went off around her, and all five were put down. She looked to the ground and turned around. "All clear," she said, signalling for everyone to come in and unpack.

Otis, Shawn, and Robert went upstairs, checking the rest of the house for more walkers and supplies. Maggie decided to walk the perimeters and keep lookout to distract herself.

Everyone moved in, carrying their stuff inside as much as they could at a time. Beth and Patricia were the first ones in, carrying the medical supplies and some sleeping bags. Immediately upon entering, they were smacked in the face with the vile odor of rotting corpses. Beth dropped the box of medical supplies, doubling over in disgust, puke threatening harshly to make its escape. Patricia helped her out, wrapping Beth's arm around her shoulders and guiding her outside. "Don't go in there," she said to everyone coming in. "They put down some walkers and the smell's liable to kill you."

Hershel turned to Arnold and Seth and nodded his head. "Alright," he said. "You two, come on, let's go get those stinkers outta there."

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Seth said.

"Yeah," Arnold so helpfully chimed in.

"Those things could make us puke everywhere, and it would be a lot worse," Seth said. "We might catch something."

"Well, unless you want to wait on them up there to come down to do it and leave us all just standing out in the open, then yeah, I'm sure," Hershel said. "We can wear masks, it'll be fine."

The three entered holding their breath and picked up the medical box Beth had dropped. They quickly tried to get masks out of it before the scent hit them. Arnold couldn't hold it, and the smell attacked his nostrils. He ran outside immediately, desperately holding his hand over his mouth. As he ran out, everyone ran off in the opposite direction, avoiding him at all costs. He made it to the edge of the woods and hurled onto the trunk of a tree.

After Arnold was done, he headed back to the house and was met by Hershel, wearing gloves and a mask, holding out the same for Arnold to put on. He dumbly looked at Hershel, giving him a look that said, "I hate you for still making me do this."

By the time they made it to the third body, the three upstairs had finished scanning the house, finding no more walkers, but a few guns and bullets Fern's redneck father used to own. Robert, Otis, and Shawn helped out, and the bodies were dragged out one by one and put in an open area near the lake to burn them later, another great idea from Seth.

Everyone carried on moving in and setting up shop. Things seemed to be good here, to Hershel, Beth, Otis, and Patricia. They loved it here, and thought we could live here indefinitely. Robert, Arnold, Maggie, Lily, Seth, and Lee, however, felt that we should keep moving, not get too comfortable. Seth made his case on why they should stay, stating how "They found us in Senoia, all the way from northern Atlanta. If we want to escape them, if they're not all dead, we need to keep moving, because they _will _find us. It's clear now that those crazy fucks have a bloodlust."

The discussion carried on for quite a while, until Hershel ruled a compromise. "I suppose you could be right about them following us. But we can't keep driving around like this. We need to take time to get our strength back, and to find more supplies, better vehicles. How about this? We stay here for three days. Then we decide what to do from there. If anyone feels too uneasy, or we find signs that we've been followed, we leave immediately.

Begrudgingly, everyone agreed to the compromise. That night, Maggie stayed up as lookout, almost terrified of sleeping in that house after seeing Fern like that. She looked terrible, like she had been tortured for days before she died. Her jaw was missing completely, and she was missing her left hand. Fern's mother was in the room with her, too, and she looked just as bad. Maggie finally realized how bad things must be out here, and she suddenly felt very scared for the future. Everyone would die, and it would be painful. She would die, her father would die, her siblings, Otis, Patricia, Robert, Seth. Everyone.


	8. Chapter 8: Let's Go

**Chapter 8 "Let's Go" **

**Day 19**

Over the past three days, the group had scavenged in Palmetto as much as they could, and found many useful things. Gas in cars, lighters, matches, canned foods, plant seeds, and clothes. Everyone got at least one extra set of clothing, and they found three working vehicles: two cars and a van. One of the cars was a deep blue, while the other was white, and the van was a very light green-ish color. They decided to siphon all of the gas out of the trucks and put it into the van and the white car, which was the spaciest of the two cars.

Now, it was morning. The sun was slowly beginning to rise over the sunset. It was peaceful, aside from a few walkers every now and then. Today was the day the group would vote on whether or not they stay here, and Arnold was on lookout duty once more.

Though an awful thing happened the last time he was on lookout, he quite enjoyed this job. It was quiet, tranquil. Gave him time to himself away from the group, to think. Today was a very big day to be thinking, as well. Certain members of the group have entrusted him to get us out of here, and he wasn't entirely unwilling to go along with it. No matter how nice this place looked, he did not dat to put his friends and family in danger.

Robert, Maggie, and Seth came up with an idea. Arnold would be on lookout duty on the night before the final day, so when it came time to discuss leaving, Arnold would have news for them. He would lie and say that in the night he saw headlights through the trees run down a neighboring road, and that they were driving quite slowly, as if they were looking for someone. He would then say that he awoke Robert and Maggie to be on standby in case things went South, and then they would lie, as well, and say that they witnessed the vehicles, too.

Thinking it over, however, Arnold was very unsure. If they kept moving, they might never find a good place to stay. Even if they do, that could be a long time from now. Being out on the road seemed much more dangerous than running from a group of people that could quite likely have just perished in the fire of Hershel's farm. Sending the group on the road could quite likely be a death sentence. Staying here could be a death sentence as well, but quite likely not any time soon. This could be a haven.

Soon, after spending his time pondering, conflicted, and staring out at the lake, the sun was quite high up, and he didn't realize it until Otis found him and told him to come downstairs, because the group was voting on staying or going.

He made his way downstairs, still weighing the possibilities. In the livingroom, Hershel was standing in front of a coffee table while everyone around him sitting in the chairs and couches surrounding it. Arnold took a seat right next to Maggie, ready to speak when Hershel first asked for any information.

"Alright, so now everyone's here. As you all should know, it's been three days since we moved in, so it's time to vote on whether we stay here or move on. First, we need to know if anyone's seen anything strange." Maggie, Robert, and Seth subtly looked to Arnold. He looked back at them, and decided, _This is the right thing to do._

"I did," Arnold spoke up. "Last night, on lookout, I heard what sounded like cars, and on the other side of the trees, at the neighboring house, I saw headlights. I got worried, and I woke up Robert and Maggie to help out in case something happened. Sun was close to time of coming up though, so I guess they got scared of being seen. Took off."

Hershel's face showed what looked like serious fear, and it shocked Arnold greatly. He turned to Robert and Maggie. "Is this true?" he asked. Maggie nodded her head, and Robert frowned at Hershel, also a bit shocked to see quite a reaction. "Well, why the hell did no one tell me sooner?" Hershel asked, sounding suddenly angry.

"Daddy, nothing happened," Maggie told him. "If the car turned this way, we would have went and got you." She realized her argument didn't exactly make the point that they were in danger, though, and quickly added, "But that was bad. If they got here any sooner, we'd could'a been dead. I think we need to leave." Jessie, who had remained neutral, nodded her head worriedly to Hershel, seconding Maggie's suggestion to leave.

Hershel nodded his head, looking upset, as well. "Alright, well. I think this changes things. I think it's right time to vote. All who vote we should leave, raise your hand." Maggie, Arnold, Robert, Lily, Lyrik, Seth, Jessie, and Lee raised their hands. The last one, Hershel slowly raised his hand as well. "All opposed," he said, and Patricia, Otis, Beth, Shawn, and Amanda raised their hands.

He lowered his head and felt like he may regret his next words. "Overruled. We leave immediately. Everyone, pack up your stuff and we'll leave before noon."

Everyone got up from their seats, headed to their rooms, and got their belongings. Just on time, they left before noon. This was going to be a long drive.

* * *

><p><em>Thanks to BLACK-OP1 for my first review on this story. Yes, EVERY character is based upon either a real person or a TWD character. They could be a singer, actor, someone I know in real life, or anything. Well, aside from a few unimportant ones I just made up (Jackson, Javier, the group that burned down the farm)<em>


	9. Chapter 9: Temporary

**Chapter 9 "Temporary" **

**Day 20**

They drove for hours in their new vehicles and made it out of Georgia. They passed the Alabama state line and continued driving for hours. That night, they set up camp off the road a ways outside of a town, with two people on lookout at any given time. They woke up the next morning and began driving once more after having a light breakfast of canned food and the last of their remaining vegetables from the farm.

Slowly they drove down the lonely roads, cluttered with debris. Crashed or broken vehicles littering the highway, with the occasional blood splatter here and there, walkers roaming all about. Eventually, they made it into a town and spotted a house that seemed usable. All of their past houses had been farm houses basically in the middle of nowhere. This one was quite a large house sat in the center of a neighborhood. It seemed to be large enough to hold all of them, and they decided to get out and check it out. Arnold, Seth, Lee, and Shawn volunteered to check and clear out the house.

They entered, and the entrance room was quite large and split into two directions. To the left, the kitchen and living room were visible. Down the right, a long hallway with many doors could be seen. Seeing no immediate threats, they splits up. Lee and Shawn went to the left, exploring the main rooms, while Arnold and Seth went to the right to check out the hallway, which presumably was the bedrooms.

Lee and Shawn occupied themselves with scrounging for supplies and checking out any offshoots, such as unexpected doors - which either led outside or to a bathroom or closet - or making sure all windows and doors were secured.

Seth and Arnold decided to split the doors between themselves to save time. Seth took all the doors on the left-hand side of the hallway, while Arnold took all the doors on the right-hand side of the hallway. They agreed to not open any two doors at once, and to wait for the other person to open their door before they open their own.

Their first two rooms were perfectly fine, the only thing seeming off was the room Arnold opened smelling like rotten eggs and soured milk. The trend continued, with every door they opened seeming perfectly fine, though some things being slightly off, like a blood splatter here, or a cracked window there.

At the end of the hall, Seth had just opened his room, and was currently inside of it, checking it out, signalling to Arnold that it was okay to open his door. He slowly cracked it open, nervous. If they hadn't seen any walkers or corpses yet, now would be the time for one to appear, right when it was expected that everything fine. It's never too late to get your face eaten off by a walker. As he opened it, the room was, like the others, clear. Relieved, Arnold sat his gun down onto the bed and layed down on his back next to it. He sighed, finally able to rest, and this time on an actual bed! It had been almost a week since he had a bed of his own, and he wanted to enjoy what little time he had with it.

As he was beginning to doze off, he heard a scratching noise under the bed, but blew it off, focusing on his relaxation. In an instant, something grabbed onto his right ankle, and he felt an intense pain. A quite delayed reaction, he sat up and yelled in pain, doing his best to get his hands around his gun. Seth bolted into the room and noticed a small walker ripping into Arnold's ankle. Arnold had gotten his hands around his gun and pointed down, figuring he had gotten the aim right, but shot himself in the calf instead, and yelled furiously in pain, throwing himself on his back again, writhing in pain. Seth gasped, and lowered his gun. He looked around the room, and found a pocket knife lying on a dresser. He grabbed it, and slammed it into the walker's head, blood spewing coming from both sides, out of the hole made with the pocket knife, and a bit coming out of the mouth, mixing into Arnold's blood.

By this time, Lee and Shawn had heard the commotion, and Lee had left to go get Hershel. Shawn and Seth began working on cleaning Arnold's leg and getting the walker out of the way, but it was stuck to something under the bed. Seth went around the side of the bed and attempted to pull it out from under the bed and found that the walker's legs were tied to the bedposts. Seth used the same pocket knife he used to put down the walker to free it, and he dragged it out from under the bed. It was the body of a young boy, thin and small, no older than 10. Seth grimaced and looked to Shawn, who was holding Arnold's legs in his hands, attempting to slow the bleeding. They shared very worried looks about all of this, and Seth began dragging the young walker out through the hall and out of the back door so that no one would see it. Hershel and Patricia came through the doors of the house just as Seth made it through the back. Lee led them to Arnold and Shawn, and the two immediately began working on him, cleaning and disinfecting the wound and wrapping it up as best they could. After, Seth rejoined them. "I'm sorry, Hershel. We should have been more careful. This is my fault," he said to Hershel, genuinely feeling very guilty.

"No, son," Hershel said to Seth, "this isn't anyone's fault. Neither of you could have known. He thought it was safe and it wasn't. If anything, it's Arnold's fault." He paused, and reconsidered his words. "I didn't mean that, I just.. I'm sorry Arnold," he said, looking to Arnold's unconscious face. After checking other beds and blind spots in all of the bedrooms, Seth and Lee helped Arnold get properly into the bed. Hershel knew that no matter what he did for Arnold now, nothing could help him. Saying that aloud though wouldn't be the best thing to, say, though. He stifled a tear, and got up to inform the people outside that it was clear to come in and get settled, and warned them to be careful not to be too loud or to disrupt Arnold in any way.

* * *

><p>About an hour later, everyone had picked out sleeping arrangements for the seven bedrooms they had to share. The sun was beginning to set, and Arnold had woken up. All of the Greenes were surrounding him, hoping that these would not be the last moments they spent with him.<p>

"I'm going to die, aren't I?" Arnold asked them. "Just like LaRissa.. and Aunt Annette." Beth sadly looked to the ground, and Maggie shook her head at him.

"No, Arnold," Maggie said. "We don't know that. We don't know how this works, we were able to disinfect your wound pretty quickly after it happened. You're going to be fine."

Though Maggie said it, just like Hershel, she knew she was wrong. That she was lying to Arnold. No one believed her, but they wanted to. God, did they want to.


	10. Chapter 10: Foodland & Goodnight

**Chapter 10 "Foodland & Goodnight" **

**Day 21**

It was he next morning, and things with Arnold were still looking grim. He hadn't been able to move at all, not even to change his position on the bed, and people were losing hope. Not only were they losing hope, they were running low on supplies. They had used the last of their alcohol yesterday on Arnold, and they needed a lot more food and bandages. Exploring the blocks surrounding their new house, Shawn and Otis discovered that they were a few blocks east of a grocery store called Foodland.

Shawn and Otis told Hershel about it, and he agreed with them that they should consider getting a group together and head out to get supplies. "How about," Otis proposed, "Shawn, Seth, Lee, and I go?"

Hershel half-frowned at him. "I'm not sure that's the best idea right now. Patricia needs you, and I don't think you should be goin' around, riskin' your life when we have a constant reminder here about how dangerous it is out there."

A flash of sadness swept across Otis's face, but he pushed it back and nodded his head compliantly. Shawn looked to Otis and considered sneaking him out, but decided against it for Patricia's sake. Otis was tough enough, but Hershel wasn't wrong. "Well, I'll ask around," he told Hershel, who nodded in response.

Shawn went to find Seth and Lee, but they weren't in their room. He went down the hallway, about to check for them in Jessie and Amanda's room, but heard voices in the living room, and followed them. There, everyone was gathered around in the living room, playing board games they had found in one of their rooms. Shawn sighed, slightly angry about having to ask everyone together. He entered the room and smiled to Beth, who was the first to notice him, but she only half-smiled in return.

"Everyone," he said, attempting to get their attention, "Otis and I found a supermarket down the road, and we need to get a group together to go and scavenge for supplies. Does anyone want to volunteer?"

Lee and Maggie raised their hands instantly, eager both to help out and to get out of the house, with its sad, glum air. Seth kept his head down, acting as though he was focused on the cards. Hesitantly, Robert put his hand up, as well. Lily noticed, and decided - _Why not?_ - putting her hand up as well.

Shawn was obviously disappointed. Seth was upset for some reason, and Maggie, Robert, and Lily weren't exactly the best people to bring along. Maggie because he was his sister, and Robert and Lily because they weren't really very strong members of the group. "Maggie, no," he said.

"Shawn," Maggie told him, glaring, "I don't care what you say, I'm going. I can handle myself, and you know that."

Shawn shook his head, frustrated. "Robert, Lily, are you guys sure you should be going?"

Robert raised a brow at him, "What's your problem with me going?"

Shawn's eyes widened slightly, and he shook his hands rapidly. "No, no, it's nothing like that," he said, trying not to come off as offensive. "It's just, I'm not sure that you'd be a good idea to bring along, if I'm honest. Especially you, Lily."

Lily raised her own eyebrow, mirroring Robert, but with an actual fury beginning inside of her. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I'm not sure you're fast or focused enough," he said flatly. "Plain and simple. Sorry."

Lily looked back down at the board game, her face twisting in anger. Robert glanced at her, and looked to Shawn, giving him a look that said "you just fucked up."

Shawn ran his hand over his face and groaned loudly. "Fine, whatever. You four, get ready to go. Empty out a backpack for each of you, make sure your shoes are tied tight, get any weapons you feel you're capable with or may need, and be ready in ten minutes."

* * *

><p>Shawn was sitting at the wheel of the white car with Lee sitting right next to him in the passenger seat. "I don't know about this," he said to Lee.<p>

Lee shrugged in response, "Well, you never know. They might be useful. Even if not, it wouldn't hurt to get more people to be capable of this kind of stuff. We can't just rely on Seth, Arnold, you, me and Otis. 'Specially with Otis's wife bein' so sensitive and Arnold in the shape he is."

Soon, Maggie joined them, just on time. She sat right behind Shawn with her empty backpack in her lap. "Seth said we should try to find more knives," she said out of the blue. Shawn nodded to her in the rear-view mirror, and he looked to the house to see Robert quickly walking to the car, climbing into the seat behind Lee, doing the same as Maggie with his backpack.

"Where's Lily?" Shawn questioned.

"She's takin' a piss," Robert stated bluntly. Lee smiled to himself and Shawn nodded, an odd expression on his face.

"She couldn't have done that earlier?"

"Well, if she didn't do it now, she might do it the first time a walker jumps out at her, and that wouldn't exactly be convenient."

Lily came from around the side of the house, zipping up her pants. She got in through the passenger side, pushing Robert into the middle, which was slightly relieving to Robert. Though it was highly unlikely, if the car crashed due to something hitting either side, Robert would have the highest chance of surviving, and that brought him a lot of comfort.

They took off just as a walker approached who had noticed Lily enter the car. It scratched at the trunk of the car as it departed, blowing dust into the poor, undead fool's face.

From inside, Seth was watching through the window. He felt an awful feeling in the pit of his stomach. _I should have went,_ he thought to himself. _But I have to prove myself. Prove that I can be useful, and not just get people killed. Too many people have died under my watch, and that's going to change. These people can finally look up to me, and Hershel will finally trust me. _Seth didn't comprehend the amount of respect many people in the group had for him. He was our strongest person physically, and he has helped us survive and adapt tremendously. Without him, we would have no defense, and very little knowledge of many things about the way this new world works. Though he hasn't exactly proved to be great as a protector, he has been wonderful as a teacher and motivator.

They made it to the supermarket very soon after, and were met with a few walkers as they approached, which were quickly dispatched of within a few shots by Lee and Shawn. Lily attempted it, but missed horribly, instead shooting a stop sign, which made a loud clanging noise.

Before they entered the stores Shawn laid down a plan. They would go in, split into two groups, and explore as two units. Robert smiled to himself, "Well," he said, "I think there might be a change of plans."

Shawn lifted a brow at him. "What do you mean?"

"You'll see."

They entered together, Shawn first, then Lee, Robert, Maggie, and then Lily. Lee was about to separate the group, him taking Lily, while Shawn took Robert and Maggie, when Robert told them to stop. He lifted his gun and pointed it up to the metallic ceiling, and pulled the trigger, taking everyone off guard, the sound sharp and shrill, almost deafening. Then, a dozen walkers materialized from the aisles, and Shawn realized Robert's plan, and he smiled to him. "That's genius, dude," Shawn said, suddenly feeling better about bringing this group along.

Shawn and Lee dispatched of the nearest, most threatening walkers, and then they focused on trying to teach the other three to shoot. Maggie was quite the natural, taking down three walkers walkers with ease. Robert got the reloading and shooting part down well, but his aim was quite off, and it took him a few tries to put down two walkers. Lily, however, was just all around pretty bad with shooting and Lee and Shawn had to put hers down for her. The best she had managed was getting one in the neck, but that wasn't enough to take it down.

Slightly frustrated with herself, she holstered her gun and did her best to forget about it. Lee patted her shoulder kindly. "It's alright. You'll get better at it," he smiled to her. "It just takes practice. Besides, now this place is safe. You don't need it now."

Lily looked at him, frustration blatant on her expression. "Good," she said. "I don't want to shoot ever again." She detatched her gun holster off of her belt and handed it back to Lee, who frowned at her, but nodded understandingly.

Though he wanted to insist that Lily keep the gun, Lee was right. This place was safe. So, instead, Shawn made a new plan. "Since this place is clear, we can all split up solo and get the place covered in half the time. The sooner we get out of here and get the supplies back to the group, the better.

They all departed, headed to opposite directions. Robert went for the household and medical supplies, Maggie searched the entrance and front counters for reading material and weapons, Lee headed for the foods section to find canned foods and not-yet-expired goods, Shawn went to the vegetables looking for seeds and fertilizer, and Lily went to the refrigerators and the back rooms for supplies employees might have left behind.

Robert's search proved to be moderately fruitful. He found no peroxide or alcohol, but there were plenty of pills (including aspirin, anti-depressants, and ADHD medication) and bandages, as well as other things such as toilet paper, plastic silverware, paper plates, shampoo, and deodorant.

Maggie found many things that she thought could be useful, such as magazines and small books for when things get boring, cigarettes to trade with other groups, pocket knives, lighters, matches, batteries, a few flashlights, fabric hair ties, rubber bands, and candy.

Lee's search wasn't the greatest. He found many canned things, but he was hoping to find other things, such as mostly-fresh bread loaves, but it seemed like the day that this place was abandoned was probably the day before their stock would be replenished. There was very little food at all, and what was left was either moldy or hardened. He did manage to find a very large amount of spices, and enough canned and nonperishable foods to last out the rest of the week, though.

Shawn's search went about as well as one would expect. Going to the fruit and vegetable section, he was met with a whole lot of nothing and disgusting. Just like Lee had found, it seemed as though the food that expired quickest was looted early, and what was left was shriveled and rotten. He did find many seeds, though, which would make his father very happy.

Lily's exploration of the store was the most interesting, though. She was in the freezer section looking for things that could still be good, since the electricity was still on here. Looking through, there was still some good sodas and energy drinks, which she put into her bag, thinking they could be useful, and grinning devilishly at the energy drinks. After she put in the freshest drinks, she continued down the freezers, looking at the foods and their expiration dates, when she found something that caught her attention. Faygo. She smiled from ear to ear, and shouted very loudly to the group: "Faygo! Guys, I just found some fucking Faygo!" In the toiletries section, Robert was smiling, shaking his head at her.

She grabbed a few bottles and put them in her bag, as well. She opened one for herself and drank it immediately, not wanting to miss out a second longer on getting her first taste in what felt like ages of her favorite soda. She continued down, and grabbed some frozen meats and cheeses to add to the collection, as well.

When she got to the end of the aisle, there was a fork, forcing her to choose to turn either left or right. To the right was Shawn, inspecting the vegetables and fruits. To the left was an almost-hidden door that lead into a back room. It wasn't much of a door, though. There were thick plastic strips hanging over a doorway, through which many boxes could faintly be seen. Drinking her Faygo happily, she went inside to the dim room. She looked around for a light and eventually found it by dragging her hands across the wall on a dark wall. In the now way-too-bright room, a desk sat, with many boxes and sacks lying around it, and on the far end of the room was a door.

She went for the desk and pulled out a drawer, and inside was many pens and paper, which she quickly bagged. In the drawer below it was the same thing, and she nearly overlooked it when she thought to look under the paper. Good thing, too. Below the paper was a brown leather holster, with a white handle sticking out. She grabbed it, and examined it, unsheathing the blade. It was a sharp machete with a riveted back side, and had "W.E." engraved on the lower part of the hilt. She smiled thoughtfully and attached the holster to her pants pocket.

Feeling much stronger and safer, she went to the door and swung it open carelessly. The room was pitch black, and she repeated her last method of using what little light there was to search for a light, and then she ran her hand across the wall. She dragged her hands across a wall to the left of the door, and turned around, repeating the process on the same wall. Unbeknownst to her, something was attracted to the bright light she had just flooding into the room by opening the door in. When she made it back to the doorway, she sighed and turned around, peering into the darkness. Then, two women in blue shirts that read "FOODLAND" in bright red letters on the right side emerged, pale and stumbling. One had a huge hole on her neck, dried blood on her skin and clothes, and clumping parts of her hair.

Panicking, Lily scrambled to get her knife back out of its holster. She was afraid of using the machete with two of them in front of her, so close to one another, though. Unable to get it with her fidgety, panicked fingers, Lily cussed under her breath and turned to run away, but she tripped on her bag and her Faygo spilled out onto the floor in front of her, soaking her shirt. She yelled for help, and in an instant, one of them fell on top of her and bit into her left shoulder. She wailed in agony, and felt the weight of the other one plummet against her legs, as it too, began to eat, ripping into her right hip. Now, she really wished she hadn't given her gun back.

Shawn came in first, and was shocked to see Lily lying there on the ground, her blood pouring out of her body, mixing in with Faygo that was still dripping out of the bottle and onto the floor. He bit his lip and raised his gun, when Robert and Lee entered. He looked to Robert, and lowered his gun, focusing on the younger boy's expression.

Going through Robert's head were many emotions. Loss of the best friend he's ever had. Agony for witnessing it. Guilt for making everyone let their guards down by drawing out walkers. Fear for the future without her. But most of all, an awful, heavy feeling of suffering for not being able to do anything to help her. On the floor, she was looking at them, her eyes begging, already looking lifeless. She blinked, and attempted to speak, but was too weak to. Robert wiped at tears he didn't even realize were falling, and he raised his gun. Maggie entered behind them. "What's going on?" she asked Shawn, who looked to her and shook his head "no," silencing her as she looked past Lee and Robert's heads to see Lily, lying on the ground in a puddle of her own blood, with two walkers eating away at her.

First, he killed the walkers with ease, taking each one down with only one bullet each. He approached Lily, who followed him with her eyes. She closed her eyes and clenched her lips, anticipating him to shoot her. Robert cringed, seeing her blood and guts pouring out of her body around her, and her looking so ready to die. The tears fell on like they never had before, and he raised his gun again. Robert was now blubbering as he struggled to see Lily through his tears. She, too, had began crying. He noticed, and closed his eyes and pulled the trigger, hitting her right in the forehead. Robert opened his eyes, making sure he got her, and he did. He fell to his knees and sobbed into her chest, wailing like a small child. He looked at her forehead and saw the wound. "No," he whispered to himself. "Why?"

He was soon hit by the awful smell of the undead walkers by her, and he angrily pushed himself up to his knees, and began firing wildly into the walkers, hitting each one another five times each before Shawn grabbed him from behind and took the gun, shushing Robert, and bringing him into a hug.

* * *

><p>They left about thirty minutes later, after having a prompt funeral for Lily behind the supermarket. Her body was too gross and mangled for them to easily transport her back, especially since they only brought a car. Robert made sure not to forget Lily's bag, and the machete she died with. He took the machete for himself, and no one argued with him over it.<p>

They made it back to the house with five bags, four people, and buckets of mourning. Lyrik saw them as she was looking through the windows, and held her hand over her mouth. As they made their way to the house, a handful of walkers approached, and Shawn and Maggie took care of them as Lee and Robert carried the bags in.

As they entered, Robert headed for his room, which he shared with Lyrik and Lily. He sighed as he entered and saw her bag full of clothes. In the living room, Lee explained to the group that walkers sneaked up on her and took her down before they could help. A tear formed in Lyrik's eye, and she ran to her bedroom to talk to Robert.

When she entered, Robert was sitting in Lily's bed, holding the white-handled machete, crying onto it. Lyrik only cried harder as she made her way to him and wrapped her arm around his shoulder. He wiped a tear and looked at her. "Lily was ambushed," Robert said, "We were foolish. We split up, all five of us. We thought the whole place was safe, and that we'd all be okay on our own. But Lily wandered. She went into a back room, and she just.. went down. There was two of them."

Robert was bawling once again, struggling to breathe and speak. Lyrik's tears were beginning to pour, as well. She loved Lily, and they were always having such a great time with each other. But Lyrik was mostly concerned for Robert, because she knew how close the two were, and losing two of his best friends in such a short amount of time was tearing him apart, and she knew it. They both hated the idea of carrying on without her.

Back in the living room, Robert and Lyrik's crying could faintly be heard, and it really set the tone of the whole house: depressing. Seth couldn't help but feel guilty for Lily's death because he refused to go, all because he was afraid of getting more people killed. Maybe if he were there, he could have kept them on their toes. Maybe they would all still be alive. He was finally beginning to see, though, that no one is safe, whether it's his fault or not.

Seth went to Hershel and volunteered for lookout duty that night, nodded solemnly in response, his mind more focused on Arnold's wellbeing. Hershel went in to check on him, and found that he was still asleep. He sat next to Arnold's bed in a chair they had brought in, and opened up to Arnold, half-hoping he wasn't able to hear him. "Things are rough around here. I don't know what we're gonna do about it, either. People just keep on dyin', and I don't know what to do. Maybe I can help train them with theirs guns. Keep a better eye on 'em. I don't know. And now that you've.. been bitten.. I just. I just wish that ever'thing could be easier. I don't know how we've all carried on so casually. Half of Seth's people are gone, and he's hardly managing with it. Robert's pretty much in the same position. Lost two of his best friends. People he'shad around for a long time in his life. We all lost Annette… And I'm afraid that I might die, soon. I'm old, and not exactly a bodybuilder like Seth. If I get cornered, that's it. And I don't know what everyone will do if that happens."

Shocking Hershel, Arnold responded. "It'll be okay," he said weakly. "We have strong people here. I know I'm not long for this world, but-"

Hershel interjected, worriedly, "Arnold, you know I didn't mean that, I just-"

"Hershel. Stop. I know I'm dyin'. What matters now is keeping everyone prepared and ready to deal with this. Keepin' everyone together, and functioning. No matter who goes, y'all gotta stay strong. Don't give up."

Arnold opened his eyes to look to reassure Hershel, and saw that his uncle was crying. He lamely raised his hand and wiped a tear off Hershel's cheek, who jumped slightly at the sudden touch. "Go get someone capable to watch over me," Arnold said. "When I turn, I don't want no one to get hurt." Arnold looked into Hershel's eyes, serious as stone. A last thought, Arnold added, "Do it quietly." Hershel's eyes reflected greif. He nodded and rose to his feet, leaving Arnold alone.

Lee entered the room a few minutes later, assigned to watch and put down Arnold should the time come. It was awkward at first trying to talk to one another, as the two weren't that close, and Lee was there only to kill Arnold when he reanimated, but eventually, Arnold fell asleep, and the awkward small talk was put to death.

The problem with putting Lee on this watch, though, is that besides Seth, he has had the least sleep of all of the members in the group, as he was on watch most often, and ever since losing the farm, he's only ever gotten about three hours of sleep per night. But when it got quiet, and all he had to keep himself occupied was to watch Arnold get the sleep he himself so desperately desired, he could hardly stand to keep his eyes open. By the time he had awoke, it was too late. Arnold had turned, and was digging into his chest, tearing out organs, and Lee could not speak. He was in agonizing pain, crying wordlessly. He couldn't even let out a yell, or a scream, or a noise of any sort, and soon he blacked out. The last thing he saw was red, all over him, all over Arnold, all over the room.


	11. Chapter 11: Stranger Road

**Chapter 11 "Stranger Road"**

**Day 22**

As usual these days, very few people were getting any sleep. Lyrik, Otis, and Shawn were the only ones who got regular sleep tonight, not waking up at all throughout the night. Robert was constantly waking up throughout the night, being awoken by nightmares and noises he was probably imagining. Looking across the room, Lyrik seemed peaceful, and that was horrifying to Robert. It seemed so out-of-place, so unnatural. He grabbed his new machete and walked to Lyrik's bed slowly, and quietly. He held his breath as he reached out a hand to touch her neck for a pulse, his other hand drawn back, ready to swing. He pressed three fingers against her neck and felt nothing, and he panicked for a moment, before he finally felt another heartbeat, and another a while later. She was fine. Robert ran his hand across his face and sighed. He felt so stupid. He went back across the room and fell down, lying back in his bed, and he drifted back to sleep, hoping he could finally rest.

Hershel was having an equally difficult time sleeping, for the same reasons. So many things were going through his head, and he knew that soon another of his family would be dead. Things were getting stressful, and there was no way of making it any better. He was staring up at the ceiling, and he felt compelled to speak aloud. Not to himself, but to his wife. He felt as though she were lying next to him, as she had for the last seventeen years. As if she were there for him, as she always had been, to help him. Give him advice, tell him everything was going to be okay. Hershel could feel tears coming, but he fought them back. He sat up, accepting that he wasn't going to get any rest tonight, and grabbed his Bible off of his bed stand. If anything could keep him level-headed, keep his mind off of sad things, it was the good book.

After reading a few pages, and as the sun started to rise, he began hearing some very faint noises outside of his room. He assumed that it was just someone getting up to go to another person's room, or perhaps for water, but he wasn't going to take any chances. He grabbed his rifle and got up to check it. He stepped lightly to his door, and opened it as quietly as possible, which wasn't very, as the door creaked open loudly in the quiet of the night, like a shotgun in an open field. Looking around, no one was in the hall, and he began to head towards the living room when the sounds started again, this time a bit louder. They were coming from deeper in the hallway. He started his way back down, listening carefully for the source. He made it to the end of the hall and realized that the faint sounds were coming from Arnold's room. Hershel drew in a deep breath, expecting to find Arnold's body, a knife shoved into his head, and Lee sobbing over his body. Instead, he was met with nearly the opposite. Lee was on the chair Hershel had sat in, dead, blood pouring out of his mouth and neck, his weapons still in their holsters. Arnold was on him, eating into his body, a rabid animal. Arnold's focus is then turned to Hershel, who quickly slams the door closed, panicking.

On the opposite end of the hall, Seth turns the corner and enters the bedrooms hallway. He sees Hershel looking into Arnold's room, and he was about to call out when Hershel slams the door in panic. He locks eyes with Seth, and he motions him to come over quietly. At the slam, Patricia and Robert peek their heads out of their respective rooms, and Hershel whisper-yells at them to get back in their rooms and make sure that they're secure.

When Patricia and Robert finally closed their doors, Seth was beside Hershel and he asked what was going when a thud hit the door. Arnold had thrown himself against it, searching for Hershel, craving his flesh. Seth desperately looked to Hershel, realizing what had happened. "Is that..?" he said to Hershel, his voice shaking. "Where's Lee?"

Hershel looked back and forth between Seth's eyes and his chest, seeing it rise and lower more and more rapid as time went by, and as he got more upset. "I'm sorry," was all Hershel could say. Then, Seth busted through the door, and raised his gun, hitting Arnold in the face, sending him backwards a few feet. Horrified at Seth's sudden, impulsive movement, Hershel hurriedly lifted his gun and shot Arnold dead. Seth quickly noticed the wretched, disgusting mess of organs and blood lying in the chair. Lee's corpse was sitting there, collapsed in on itself, and his eyes were opening, and he was reanimating. Seth gasped and lowered his gun. Hershel noticed and raised his gun to put him down, thinking that Seth was in too much trauma to do it, but Seth put a hand on Hershel's arm. He looked to the older man and nodded. Seth slowly raised his gun and aimed it at Lee's head. Lee's undead eyes stared back at Seth, almost challenging him to pull the trigger. A single tear rolled down Seth's cheek and he shot.

It was dead quiet for two whole minutes, people coming out of their rooms with weapons ready, expecting walkers. They saw Hershel and Seth in the doorway, and they lowered their weapons, and gathered around the room, wordlessly taking in the scene ripped straight from a gory horror movie.

* * *

><p>After the silence, everyone had departed to their rooms to pack. There was no way they were going to stay here any more. The tragedies they suffered in such a short time in Albertville were too great, and staying would feel like torture, constant reminders everywhere.<p>

A funeral was held at noon, and Arnold and Lee's bodies were taken to the back yard and buried next to where the young walker was buried by Seth. They planned to leave right after, so everyone was holding their bags and weapons, ready to go when it was all over. Again, Hershel headed the funeral. Once again, coincidentally, it was a funeral with one of his beloved relatives, and the equivalent of a stranger. No one spoke other than Hershel, who said the same thing he said at the last funeral, with an added, "You will never be forgotten. We love you Arnold." Seth seemed like he was going to speak, but decided against it.

They turned away from the graves, and went into their cars. The Greenes plus Patricia and Otis got into the van, and Robert, Lyrik, and Seth's people got into the white car, leaving the blue car behind, though the leftover gas was siphoned out. They drove off, headed westward. As they were driving, a voice came over the radio, though it was hard to understand what it was saying through the static. "Anyone.. Nash-.. It's.. go.. Nashville." Shawn looked to Hershel, and they turned from going west on the road and went north, headed for Nashville.

* * *

><p>They made it into a watery town about thirty minutes after departing. Lyrik was the only one who paid attention to the sign that they passed when entering city limits, and according to her, the name of the town was Guntersville. "There's too damn many 'Villes around here," Seth said in response. "We need to get out of the south." The town was like an island, or more accurately a peninsula. There were many large bridges spanning across a large lake surrounding it, and in order to get off the peninsula, they had no choice but to turn around and take a very gas-guzzling detour, or cross one of the bridges. This wouldn't be a problem, as the bridges seem very sturdy, but three of the four bridges are quite thin and are scary to many of the passengers. The largest one heads directly north, just as they are planning to go, but there are many cars cluttering the way through. They decided to just go to the north one, get out, and clear a path.<p>

They went as far into the mass of cars as they could, weaving between trucks and SUVs carefully, before they had to stop and make a path. Otis, Seth, and Shawn got out to push other vehicles. Seeing them out there as the only ones capable of pushing really hammered in how big the loss of Lee and Arnold was. _If they were still here, they'd be able to help,_ was a thought going through nearly everyone's heads.

The three got a van out of the way, which allowed for Hershel and Jessie, who had taken over driving for Seth, to move deeper through the jam. As Seth, Otis, and Shawn turned around to follow the cars and unhinge the next obstacle, a voice behind them shouted, "Freeze!"

Seth whispered under his breath, "Fuck," and they stopped and lifted their hands compliantly.

"Good," the voice said. It was clearly a male's. "Now, put your weapons down. All of them."

Angrily, Seth reached down for his gun and threw it to his feet. Shawn and Otis did the same.

"If that's not it, I'm not afraid to shoot," a woman's voice said.

"Turn around," the man said.

The three turned around, finally able to get a look at the menaces. The man didn't look nearly as tough as he sounded, and was quite thin; very little muscle mass. The woman looked even weaker, holding a gun that looked way too big for her. It appeared to be a fully automatic machine gun, which was quite intimidating to the boys. She had thin, blonde hair up in a bun, and her body was just as thin. She was wearing clothes that seemed to be too big for her, obviously having gone hungry recently.

"We don't want to hurt you," said the woman.

"We don't want to hurt _you,_" echoed Seth cockily.

"Look, we're not here to kill you, or anyone with you. We will. But that's only if you don't listen to us," the man said, a tinge of fear running through his eyes. He knew he and the woman beside him were greatly outnumbered, but they knew what they needed and wanted, and it seems like they were desperate enough to risk dying for it. "We just need some food. A little fuel, medical supplies, ammo, weapons. Anything that could help."

Seth smiled at them. "Oh, so you're just nice people looking for help? Yeah, sure. That's exactly why you drew guns on us and are threatening me and my people, huh? 'Cause you're just lovely folks who need some sugar." He scoffed at them and quickly grabbed his gun and shot it at the woman, trying to take down the one with the most dangerous weapon, but she dodged it and hid behind a car. The man hid behind another car in the opposite direction, and he began firing it back at Seth, Shawn, and Otis, and they all took cover behind a van. The woman behind the car threw her gun to the ground and cussed, peeking over to make sure that her friend was okay. Luckily for them, they both were unscathed, though deathly scared.

Inside the cars, people were ducking, covering their heads, doing their best to stay out of the windows. The smallest people and those in the front seats tried cramming themselves in the floorboards, and many people would occasionally peek up to see what was happening, like Jessie, Lyrik, Beth, and Patricia.

Then, unexpectedly, a very high voice yelled, "Stop!" The gunfire instantly stopped because it sounded almost like a child's. It was a child's. A small white boy with light brown hair exited an RV they had weaved past back down the pile up, and ran for the blonde woman. "Sierra!" he said as he ran to hug her. Sierra quickly grabbed him and pulled him into cover behind her car, scorning him.

"Ron, damn it, didn't I tell you to stay in the RV! It's too dangerous out here. Fuck!" she said and looked across the way to the man. He groaned and frustratedly threw his head back. He raised his hands, and Sierra sighed and did the same. Ron raised his hands as well, as a child might do, and Sierra gave him a dirty look.

Seth squinted at the young boy, keeping his gun raised and he thought he had seen a ghost. He was about to yell back to the cars, but it would have been too late. Jessie had gotten out of her seat and ran for the boy, hysterically screaming, "Ron! My baby, Ron!"

Everyone aside from Seth looked on quizzically, either out of disbelief or confusion. Ron ran past Sierra, who was in shock and let him pass without thinking. She snapped back into reality and chased after Ron, not wanting him to be deceived and hurt. The man looked like he was about to cry, both of joy, and of a twinge of sadness that he may no longer be Ron's guardian. Jessie and Ron were now hugging in the middle of the road, Sierra feet behind them, awkwardly watching them hug, looking stunned. They hugged for what felt like an eternity, crying and whispering "I love you," to each other.

They finally pulled apart from one another and looked into each other's eyes. Reality painted itself back into view, and the stood. Ron waved his hand, gesturing for the man to come over. "Mommy, these are my friends. They helped me out, and took care of me. That's Sierra," he said pointing to the blonde, who awkwardly smiled at Jessie, "and that's Xavier." The man mirrored Sierra's expression and waved.

Jessie smiled genuinely back at them, seemingly already forgetting that they held her friends up at gunpoint. She shook their hands and with a big smile, couldn't stop saying, "Thank you so much. Thank you, really, thank you, you have no idea how much this means to me."

"Of course, Ms. Anderson," Xavier said in return.

"Oh, please, really? Just call me Jessie," she said, smilingly warmly. Sierra smiled back, things not getting any less awkward.

Ron looked up at his mother with desperate eyes and plead, "Mommy, can we please come with you?"

Jessie turned around to look at Seth, who shrugged. Seth turned around as well, to look to Hershel, who looked absolutely dumbfounded. He exited the van and got a good look at them. He bent down to the young boy, looked back up to Sierra and Xavier, and asked the boy, "Do you think these people are good people?"

"Yes, sir," the small boy tweeted.

"How do you know them?"

"When that one building in Atlantica g-"

"Atlanta," Jessie and Sierra said at the same time to correct Ron, and looked to one another slightly stunned.

"Yeah!" Ron said, smiling that they both helped him. "Well, when it got destroyed, Sierra and Xavier were there watching over me and my friends, Ethan, Lila, Nellie, Louis, and Eliza. But I don't know what happened to them. These two other guys were with us, but they got bit…" Ron trailed off.

A few shots then rang with no warning as Seth and Otis had taken down a few stray walkers that were attracted to the gunfire from moments before.

Hershel nodded solemnly to Ron, realizing how awful this world must be to children. "So, young man. You trust them?"

Ron nodded happily. "Yes, sir. I promise," he said, pointing his pinky at the elderly man.

Hershel smiled and put his pinky out, accepting the promise. He looked to the two behind the boy and jokingly said, "Well, the man here says you're all good," and he smiled at them. "You're comin' with us."

Sierra and Xavier smiled to each other and Xavier tousled Ron's hair, who looked giddy. Ron led Jessie and the two back to the RV, and said, "Look mom, come see my room." Sierra and Xavier had obviously been taking turns sleeping on the floor and the couch of the trailer, and they had given Ron the back room for himself.

Hershel and Shawn came up to them a few moments later, and they discussed how they would leave this place. Hershel said that they spotted another RV a bit in front of where he had parked when they stopped the three they had out pushing, and that they could put all of their gas, plus gas from other cars in the pile up, into the two RVs and leave in those; but to do that, room would have to be made in their RV. Sierra and Xavier looked glumly down to Ron, knowing he would now have to give up, or at least share, his bed. Ron spoke up, "Okay. Mommy, Sierra, Xavier, and I can sleep in that bed!"

Sierra looked to Jessie, who smiled at her. "That sounds fine to me, dear," Jessie told Ron. Xavier and Sierra looked to one another awkwardly.

Now, the group would be traveling in the two RVs. Jessie, Ron, Sierra, and Xavier stayed in Xavier's RV, while Hershel, Maggie, and Beth stayed in the other, and everyone else shuffled in between.


	12. Chapter 12: Nashville

**Chapter 12 "Nashville"**

**Day 24**

The group had been on the road, bunking with the new people, and not having to find houses to stay in anymore. They could finally just blend in, look like abandoned vehicles, and get a good rest without burning precious calories and risking their lives clearing out houses. Of course, there were many drawbacks. With a group this large, things got awkward, and sometimes disgusting. There was very little room to share among themselves, and often they had other people's feet or butts in their face.

Thankfully, it has only been two nights that they have had to put up with this. On this day, things were looking up. All of this gross sleeping together in such close quarters was going to change. Everyone would get their own room, and finally be happy, and maybe even be reunited with friends and family. This would all be over.

They were now about five miles out from Nashville, just passing through a town no one bothered to look at the name for. Rain was pouring outside the windows of the RV, creating a beautiful sound that calmed and soothed certain members of the group. Water hitting against the metallic roof of the vehicle, a familiar sound to the Greenes, Otis, Patricia, and Robert. Reminded them of home; of cold nights in with the family; of the countryside during storms. It was almost magical. In the distance, smoke could faintly be seen through the wet windshield. "Must be nice and warm. Maybe havin' 'em a barbecue," Otis said, half-joking. "Must be a real big one," Patricia added.

At the couch, Shawn, Amanda, and Beth were in the middle of a conversation.

"Wait, you used weed?" Beth asked, amazed.

"Yup. Crack, too. Even heroin and meth. But it's nothing to brag about, girl. That shit fucks you up."

Shawn rolled his eyes. "Alright, fine. But what made you stop?"

"Well, it was Erin. She and I were friends, long before all this started. She really helped me out. I was in a bad crowd. Lots of assholes and addicts," Amanda trailed off for a second, looking at her hands, looking at scars on her wrists from years ago. "What got me was this one night, I.. my boyfriend at the time, he was throwing a party. I was there, and so were all the cool people in my school. And all of the addicts. Was a great party. But, my boyfriend, he was really pushing me. He got me to take a cocktail of drugs and alcohol all mixed together. I don't know how he got me to do it, but he did. I passed out, and I guess one of the kids saw me and called Erin, 'cause they knew we were friends. She came over and helped me, when no one else would. Got me into rehab, got me all clean. God, I wish she was still here. She's the only reason I am."

Shawn looked on, feeling ashamed for asking. "I'm sorry for-"

"Don't be," she said. "I'm just glad I could finally get it off my chest."

Beth looked like she was about to cry, and reached over the table to give her a big hug. "No one should have to go through somethin' like that. I'm so sorry" Amanda returned the hug and smiled. These were good people.

* * *

><p>In the other RV, Xavier decided to let Seth drive, as he had been quite nice to him, along with the fact that he was tired of always driving this hunk of junk. Now, Xavier and Sierra were lying in the bed with Robert and Lyrik talking about the world, while Jessie and Ron sat up front playing with the boy's toys.<p>

"Yeah, I kinda used to be a model," Sierra said. "I didn't get a lot of work near the end, before this all started, but y'know. I was happy."

"I could totally see that," Lyrik said.

"Right?" Robert said. "She looks like a mix between Hayden Panettiere and Dakota Fanning."

Sierra laugh happily, blushing slightly. "Thanks, I guess."

Robert nodded to her, smiling. "Well, what did you do?" he asked Xavier.

"Uh, well. I was an actor. Not a great one, obviously, but I got as much work as I could."

"Oh, so is that how you two know each other?" Lyrik asked.

"Yeah," Xavier said, glancing to Sierra and awkwardly looking away when their eyes met. "Um," he paused. Robert and Lyrik smiled to each other, delighting in the two's mannerisms. "My manager was really pushing for professional shots - photos, I mean. And he set me up with one of Atlanta's most respected photographers, and apparently Sierra was there working with him that day. Originally, we were both going to have separate photoshoots, but the photographer thought we were a cute couple, so he made us pose together. One of the pictures we took together actually ended up on a magazine. From there, we just, you know. Started hanging out. Became really close."

"Okay, so, are you two a thing or what?" Robert asked, feeling almost thrilled to finally be able to gossip again. It made things seem almost normal. God, did he miss this.

Sierra laughed to herself and looked to Xavier, inaudibly telling him to tell the story.

"Well, not anymore," he said coyly.

Lyrik playfully gasped. "I told you so! You owe me five bullets, Robert," she said, making them all laughed.

"No," Sierra said. "We're not a thing. But we used to be. We broke up just a little while before this all started. It's just a sick twist of fate that we were both given kid-watching duty in Atlanta when the shit hit the fan at our refuge."

"I'll say," Xavier nodded.

"So, is that how you guys wound up with Ron?" Lyrik asked.

"Yeah," Xavier said and grew quiet, more serious. "There were others, too. Some we had, some we didn't. There was six kids we were watching at the time, but there were many more throughout the place, but most of them were with their parents, so I can only hope they made it," Xavier paused, looking out the wet window at the passing scenery of cars crashed in ditches, walkers eating things on the sides of the road, and what looked to be another group of survivors at one point, but they all went into the woods before Xavier could register it. He looked back to everyone and caught his train of thought. "We lost this pair of siblings. Names were Eliza and Louis, but we're pretty sure they made it to their parents. There were two other little girls and a boy, though. Nellie, Ethan, and Lila. Ethan and Lila died to the herd that attacked, and Nellie was bitten during it. She, uh. She turned the next morning and we had to put her down in front of Ron. God, that was hard to explain. Hard enough to explain that we didn't know where his mom was." Xavier seemed to be on the verge of tears, and Sierra put a hand on his shoulder.

After a few moments of slightly awkward silence, Sierra looked to Robert and Lyrik, and said with playfulness returning to her voice, "So what about you two? Are you guys a thing?"

Lyrik and Robert looked to each other and laughed loudly. "Yeah, girl," Lyrik said, still laughing. "Me and this boy are in _love_, makin' babies an' shit."

Robert laughed even harder. After a few moments, he finally stopped laughing and was able to speak. "No," he said. "For one, I'm gay. For two, her? Really? She's _unbearable!"_

Lyrik scoffed playfully and smiled to Sierra. "Doesn't mean I'm not a good catch, though. And neither's Robert over here, huh Xavier? Huh?" Lyrik said, vocally nudging Xavier's shoulder.

Xavier chuckled lowly and awkwardly. "Nah," he said. "I don't swing that way. Not that there's anything wrong with it, though! It's just, you know, not for me."

Robert was smiling at Xavier, but when he said that, Robert was hit with the thought that he may never see another gay guy again. The people here could be the only people he ever sees again. Realizing he was being watched stare off into the distance, he quickly thought of a retort. "We'll see about that. Change your mind, you call me first, baby."

Xavier laughed, attempting to think of something to say back, but the RV suddenly stopped, flinging everyone forward. "What the hell, Hershel?!" Seth yelled from the driver's seat.

In the front RV, Hershel was forced to put a sudden halt to the trip, interrupting everything going on in both of the vehicles and nearly causing Seth to crash right into the back of the leading RV. In front of them, a large mass of walkers was visible. The smoke was now clarified to be the city of Nashville, aflame and destroyed, in cinders and ruin, painting a devastating background behind the herd as rain poured down heavily onto it all. Many gasps were heard, and Hershel looked horrified. For him, this cemented that there was no safety. There was no sanctuary. Maggie put a hand on his shoulder, sadly looking at the destruction.

Hershel kissed his daughter's hand and composed himself. "I'm sorry, everyone," he said to those in his RV. "I thought we would finally be safe. I guess I was wrong."

Patricia, Amanda, Otis, and Beth looked coldly at the remains of the city as Hershel made a u-turn, taking the group away from the awful scene. The rain seemed the intensify, the sound growing louder. It looked as if they may never catch a break.


	13. Chapter 13: Fingers

**Chapter 13 "Fingers"**

**Day 31**

It had been a week since the group found Nashville burned to cinders, walkers riddling the streets. The group had been on the road a lot, trying to find a permanent, steady shelter. So far, they had found very little, other than some supplies and a ton of walkers. They had found many new, great weapons, and even an old map that came in very useful. After inspecting it many times, Patricia discovered that they weren't far from a national park in Missouri, the Mark Twain National Forest. There were many residences there, and it was a pretty open area where things could be pretty easily managed, very similar to Hershel's farm. Getting there was proving to be quite difficult, however, as they constantly kept reading the map wrong, or the paths would be blocked off by massive pile ups of cars or crashes of trains or tankers, or bridges would be out and they would have to take a detour.

Today, they were in a small town in south-eastern Missouri called Hayti. They were set up in a barn that they had set tents u around and used the RVs as a barricade. However, one of the RVs was currently gone, as a few members were on a run. Robert, Xavier, Seth, Maggie, and Otis had went out to scavenge for food and supplies when they stumbled upon an armory in a police department that had been untouched. In it was an armada of weapons: nightsticks, bats, an array of guns and ammunition, bullet-proof vests, pepper spray, whistles, and a few riot shields, but for some reason all of the riot gear was gone. Xavier assumed that the people who worked here took it out, responding to a mass emergency and not knowing they were walking into a party of reanimated corpses.

Beth had noticed how strong those around her were, or were becoming, and she didn't want to fall behind, or to be a liability, and she knew she could. She asked to be trained with the new weapons so that she would become less of a liability to the group, and no one was going to argue with her. Having more capable people is not a thing to be upset about.

Seth, Xavier, and Sierra handled weapons training, transporting the group of learners to the abandoned police department to practice on dummies and use the firing range. Robert, Lyrik, Patricia, Beth, and Amanda were the trainees. Robert had gotten pretty good at shooting and using his machete, but he wasn't going to miss any opportunities to get better. Amanda was a pretty good shot, but she never really had many chances to use any weapons, and she didn't want to lose what little skill she had. Lyrik, Patricia, and Beth, however, had hardly even held a weapon, let alone used it.

"Wait, so, where do I look?" Lyrik asked Seth who was helping her shoot. To her left, Robert was firing off shots, getting a few headshots. He had improved greatly since he first started. Amanda was on Lyrik's right side, struggling nearly as much as Lyrik was. She used to be better, but that was when she was about ten and her dad would take her out to the woods to shoot at squirrels.

"Where you plan to shoot, duh," Seth said to her.

"Oh my god, no, but like, how do I aim? Like, where do I look?"

"Okay, well, focus on the gun. The 'proper' way to do it is to look at the gun and not what you're aiming at. That little notch in the middle indicates any aim shift."

"Aim shift?"

"Uh, it's like, if the notch is higher than the two there, that means the bullet goes higher. If it's a bit to the left, the bullet shoots a bit to the left. See, with this one, the notch is a bit above them when you look at it like this. So, aim slightly lower than what you're trying to hit."

"Okay," Lyrik said, taking aim. She put her finger around the trigger and shot, a loud bang firing through the room. She jumped back, not expecting the gun to fire so easily, as the bullet went straight through the cut-out's shoulder. Realizing what she had done, she jumped up and down giddily. She grabbed Seth's hands and continued bouncing, happily yelling "I did it! I did it, I did it, I did it!"

Seth smiled at her, amused by her childishness. "Did you aim for the shoulder?" he asked.

"No," she said, still smiling. "But I hit it!"

Seth half-frowned at her. "Lyrik," he said, sighing. "Good job hitting it, but that's not something to celebrate about just yet. If you were trying to defend yourself against a walker and you got it in the neck, would you be celebrating about that like you just did? Just that you hit it."

Lyrik gave him a dirty look, feeling robbed of her joy. "Excuse me, sir, but that's not what's going on right now. Of course I wouldn't celebrate like that out there. But we're in a nice, safe place in this moment, and I'm happy that I'm making progress in shooting. Jesus," she said, rolling her eyes. She put her gun back up before Seth could reply and shot, hitting the cut-out right in the left eye. She looked back to Seth sassily, her face telling him to suck it. He half-smiled at her, embarrassed and blushing, feeling like a total jerk.

Xavier was currently helping Patricia and Beth with hitting walkers with knives and other melee weapons. Sierra was taking a break in the corner of the room cleaning her too-large machine gun. They were in a room that looked like a training room for a martial arts room, large dummies spaced evenly apart from one another.

"I know you girls know how to cook," he said, "but that's not what these knives are for. This is much different. Ideally, you're going to want your blades - or any sharp weapons, I guess - to be as sharp as you can get them. Any chance you get, sharpen them. Keep them clean, too, just in case you need to use them for something else that they'd need to be sanitary for, such as cutting food, or killing an animal to eat. You don't want to waste food by slicing walker guts into it like that, do you? Anyways, sorry. Show me what you've got."

"What a monologue," Sierra said as Patricia and Beth ungracefully began weaving through the dummies, attacking them like children playing with toy swords.

Xavier shook his head, appearing frustrated, but actually struggling to keep from laughing. "Stop!" he yelled, startling the two. Slightly startled, Beth tripped and fell forward, dropping her knife. The knife, sharp as a butcher's cleaver, fell to the floor and cut off the pinky and ring finger on her left hand at the knuckles. She screamed in pain and confusion, not understanding what had just happened, blood gushing all over her as she instinctively clutched it, staining her dull yellow shirt, squirting onto her neck and chin.

Everyone in the room audibly gasped as they realized what was happening. Patricia ran to her and grabbed Beth's hand. "Xavier," she yelled, ripping off a large part of her dress and wrapping it onto Beth's hand, "get over here and put pressure on this! Sierra, help me find something to get these fingers into." She handed the hand off to Xavier and grabbed up the fingers, running to the door where her bag was. In it was a little bit of alcohol. She looked back and said shakily, "It'll be okay, Beth, you just hold tight."

Sierra had ran out of the room and to the firing range. "Seth! Get everyone out here and help me find something cold! Ice, cold water, anything! Beth cut off some of her fingers! _Hurry!"_

Everyone quickly holstered their guns and threw their loose ammo into the gun bag by the door. They searched the department, looking for a working tap or a fridge. They had spent about three minutes searching before Lyrik had found a fridge, but there was just some rotten lunch in a paper bag with the name James written on it and a few cans of cream soda. After, the group came to the conclusion that there was nothing here they could use and Patricia ordered everyone to get in the RV they had brought to quickly get them back to the group so that she and Hershel could reattach the fingers.

Beth was slouching on her side in the couch, hyperventilating and panicking. "Do you think she'll make it?" Lyrik asked.

"Well, she'll obviously make it," Patricia said condescendingly. "The question is whether or not her fingers will make it. If we had something to keep them cold, so long as we got back to Hershel within twelve hours, we'd be good. But we don't have that luxury, so all we can do is hope."

Xavier was quickly driving along the road through the small town, trying to get back to their camp set up in a barn outside of town. However, they were halted. A large mass of walkers was coming their way, and if they stayed where they were, their RV might be trampled right over. "Does anyone know another way to the barn?" Xavier asked, swinging the RV around sharply.

"I dunno," Seth said, "why? What are you doing, dude?!"

"Well, not to alarm anyone, but there's a huge herd between us and the road to the barn, and it's coming our way. For now, I'd be more worried about the people we left at the camp."

Sierra seemed very anxious, and worriedly said, "That herd could have swept over the barn and either killed them or separated them. If we're lucky, that herd came from another direction."

Robert dumbfoundedly looked to them. "Herd? What's that supposed to mean?"

Xavier half-frowned to Robert. "It's when a bunch of walkers converge. They have, like, a hive mind. They move as one. When one hears a gunshot, all of them follow. It's devastating."

Everyone in the group looked on worriedly and prayed that everything would be okay.

Beth screamed in agony, reminding everyone of the dire situation. Patricia bent on her knees, doing her best to reduce Beth's pain and keep her calm. Amanda looked down at the wet paper towel she was told to hold and unwrapped it slightly to look at the fingers. They were beginning to turn purple, and Amanda held her breath, waiting for Patricia to leave Beth's side, so that Beth wouldn't panic any more than she has.

Sitting next to Xavier in the passenger seat, Robert was trying to direct him with their map. "Turn left down 4th Street! It'll put us on a path to a highway and we can swing back around to the barn."

They kept driving and turned onto the highway that Robert had pointed out, but were met with the herd. It was much larger than they had expected. "Get down!" Xavier said, turning off the RV and ducking into the floorboard.

"What?!" Robert said, following Xavier's lead.

"We don't have a choice," Xavier whispered. "Everyone get your weapons at the ready. Beth, I'm sorry about this. If you have to scream, grab a pillow."

Everyone ducked down low, closing curtains and staying low under windows that it was too late to close. If they were lucky, they hadn't been spotted.

Soon, they could be heard. The moans and bumps of the undead were horrifying. Their groans were awful, and they could be felt falling against the RV or scratching on it occasionally. Some of the survivors inside held their breath, some of them cried, others braced themselves, clutching their knives and guns.

It felt like a year of tense silence, but after about two hours, the noises died down, signalling that the herd had nearly passed. In that silence, Amanda had witnessed the fingers turn darker and begin to smell. When the herd had finally thinned, Amanda signalled Patricia over and subtly showed her the fingers. Patricia looked devastated, and looked to Beth, who had fallen asleep. Patricia shook her head, clarifying that the fingers would not be able to be reattached. She took them and put them on a cabinet across from the couch and went back to keep an eye on Beth. When Xavier was certain that they could move once more, he started up the RV and made a U-turn, headed back into town for the quicker way to the barn.

They arrived to see that the camp was completely untouched, everyone doing their normal business as though everything was fine. Everyone in the RV breathed a collective sigh of relief that the herd had come from another direction. Patricia and Lyrik ran to Hershel, who had just come out of the barn looking very confused, with a drowsy Beth. They laid her down on a hay bale with a sheet over it, Patricia explaining the whole time what had happened. She shoved out her fist, a paper towel in it. Hershel, looking shocked and worried, hesitantly took the paper towel and unrolled it, met with two fingers turning an unnatural color. Beth was thankfully asleep again when he had to say, "There's no way we can reattach these."

"Well, you need to help her no matter what!" Patricia said to Hershel. "Sew her up, clean the wounds as best you can, do anything and everything!"

Hershel nodded, quickly getting to work. Thankfully, Beth was out cold, so she wasn't awake to feel the pain or scream. He worked tirelessly and dutifully with the help of Patricia and Lyrik, with Robert, Sierra, Xavier, Jessie, Maggie, and Amanda watching closely, hoping to learn tips and things about how to handle situations like this.

An hour of tense waiting later and Hershel announced to the group the progress that had been made. "The fingers were sewed up well," Hershel said. "I'm sure she'll make a full recovery. Well, as full as you could expect," he told the group. _Of course, anything could happen,_ he thought to himself. _It always seems to, these days.  
><em>


	14. Chapter 14: Mark Twain National Forest

**Chapter 14 "Mark Twain National Forest"**

**Day 33**

The group had spent another day at the barn on the outskirts of Hayti, just to make sure that Beth would be ready and able to go. Of course, with her hand a huge ball of bandages, she wouldn't be much help either way, but there's no good in bringing someone unfit to travel, especially if they're in screaming agony. Thankfully, she was doing very well on this day, and they decided they would leave immediately.

They made it to a perfect area in the park about four hours later, around 1 in the afternoon. It was a house in the middle of the forest, a few meters from a small river, and it was in the middle of a clearing, where the sides of the forest could be seen for about half a mile out all around the house.

Robert, Xavier, Seth, and Sierra went inside to clear out the house, but found nothing. The whole house seemed to be completely intact, no signs of scavengers raiding it or even the people who lived here leaving it. Family photos were still in place above the fireplace and along the hallway. A jewelry box found in the master bedroom seemed to be untouched, stocked full of necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. "The residents must have been out when this all started," Robert said, he and Sierra trying on some of the jewelry. "Maybe they were on vacation." While trying on the jewelry, Robert looked at himself in the mirror. His facial hair was growing in and it was rough. It had been bugging him a lot over the past few days, being unused to the prickly hair. _God, I hope this house has razors in it somewhere, _he thought. _Seth, Xavier, and Shawn look a bit overdue for a shave, as well._

"Or just at the store a few miles back. At work. Maybe picking up their kids from daycare. Who knows," Seth said.

"Or they're still alive," Xavier said forebodingly.

The house was moderately small, but it had two stories and a basement. Thankfully, the living room and the bedrooms were very large, and provided sufficient space for everyone to stay in comfortably.

The yard was odd, though; the fence formed a right triangle around the house, with the side to the east having the farthest point, and three small buildings lining it. One was a tool shed, another was a chicken coop, and the farthest one was a small barn where hay, seeds, and animal food was kept. The fence surround the yard was tin beginning to rust, small streaks of reddish-brown spaced out along it. On the hypotenuse side to the northwest was a pre-plowed garden, with neglected plants growing, moderately drooping. Thankfully, it rained enough around here that watering it wasn't necessary, and when it wasn't raining, there was plentiful sunlight.

Further exploring the less likely nooks and crannies (just in case; after Arnold, being _too_ safe wasn't a thing) Seth opened the fridge to find tons of rotten food, creating a foul, awful odor that made him gag. "Well," he yelled to Xavier, "whoever lived here is definitely gone. Or a fuckin' slob," he finished, gagging once more before slamming the fridge shut. He hesitantly opened the deep freeze, not wanting to be confronted with such an awful stench, but not wanting to leave any stone unturned. There were many things frozen inside, such as bagged chicken, ground beef, harvested vegetables, and some lunch meats. He smiled, checking the expiration dates and determining that most of the food inside was still good thanks to the added lifeline of being frozen.

The four took their findings back to Hershel, who had kept the group outside of the RVs, ready to fight or defend should they be needed, with Patricia, Lyrik, Jessie, Ron, and Beth still inside the vehicles to help anyone who got injured. They said that the place checks out, and that they found many things that the group could use, including fresh changes of clothes and the actually edible meat. Hershel smiled happily and they began to unpack their meager belongings from the RVs to settle into their new home. Hopefully this time they could find peace.


	15. Chapter 15: El Río

**Chapter 15 "El Río"**

**Day 35**

The house had been quite nice to live in. It had a beautiful front porch where they liked to have breakfasts. They had really enjoyed having more meat in them, as well. It had been a few weeks since they had last had meat before now.

Everyone got rooms and roommates they were happy with. Sierra and Amanda bunked in one room; Hershel and Maggie shared the biggest room; Robert, Lyrik, and Xavier shared a room; Shawn and Beth stayed together; Otis and Patricia got their own room; and Seth decided to stay with Jessie and Ron. There was one extra room, but everyone was too scared to sleep in a room alone.

Two days after arriving, Patricia and Otis went to the river to check how clean the water looked. They wouldn't trust it at all without boiling it first, but it did seem to be clear enough for them to wash their clothes in. They headed back for people to help them take their old clothes out and wash them. Later, they planned for everyone to bathe in the river if this proved to be a good. Obviously, they wouldn't all bathe at once, but they also would not have anyone go alone.

Jessie and Lyrik volunteered to help out with washing, and everyone aside from Jessie, who was refusing to learn how to shoot, took a gun with them. Now that Jessie had her son, she believed that shooting, especially at strangers, was the worst thing you could do, and that she would never fire another gun again. Despite many members of the group constantly reminding her that the gun is only for protection, she still refused to take or use a gun.

At the river, the four were washing the laundry, making small talk.

"And how Sierra and Xavier called walkers 'D.K.s'?" Otis said. "I actually thought that was pretty cool, though."

"So did I," Patricia said. "I like the different names people have for them. Allison called them lurkers once."

"Yeah," Jessie said, half-frowning to herself. She wanted to change the subject to avoid getting sad about Erin. She remembered the razors Robert had found and asked, "Otis, why didn't you shave with the other guys?"

"I dunno," he said. "I think I look kinda good with a bit of a beard, don't y'all? Hershel, too."

Patricia laughed and reached over to put her arm around his shoulder and kissed him. "I think you look 'kinda good' any way, Otis. Hershel, too." Everyone laughed.

"God, I can't believe what those other fools look like now," Lyrik said.

"Tell me about it," Patricia said, laughing. "Seth looks the weirdest."

Jessie hummed an mm-hm. "I can't believe how much of a difference shaving can make in a guy's appearance."

"Well, at least some of them still look pretty cute," Lyrik said. "Like Xavier. Yes, _ma'am,_ he looks good."

Everyone laughed at Lyrik. The air of the group slowly dissipated, and just as Otis was about to speak, hoping to change the subject from gossiping about cute boys, voices could be heard in the distance. What they were saying was very hard to determine. Jessie and Patricia quickly gathered up the clothes in the stream and put them in their baskets, making an attempt to run back to the house. As they got up, Patricia grabbed her gun out of her pocket and put it on top of the clothes in her basket, ready to shoot just in case. Otis and Lyrik stayed behind, their guns pointed at the now moderately-visible figures. It appeared to be a group of five, and they could faintly be seen through the thick brush of the forest. They had large backpacks, and some were in clothes stained with blood. Though they looked like a very troubled group, they still seemed moderately happy. As they got closer and their voices got louder and what they were saying was more clear. "I think they're speaking Mexican," Otis said.

"Spanish, you mean?"

"Whatever. It's not English."

As the group came through the thick forest, a very thin boy pointed Otis and Lyrik out, and they all drew their guns. The scene was very much like an unfair Mexican standoff, both groups on opposite sides of a river. A woman in the front of the group who appeared to be the leader spoke up. "Hola," she said calmly.

"No habla español," Lyrik said.

"Okay, sorry," the woman said in reply. "Um, what's this?" she asked. Soon, she noticed movement by a house in the distance, and it appeared that people were lining up along the fence of it with sniper rifles. "Put down your guns," she quickly said to her people in Spanish.

"Why?" asked a short, blonde girl. The leader pointed over Otis and Lyrik's heads to the house where the group had their guns trained on the Spanish survivors. The members of the group immediately put down their guns, other than the blonde, who put hers down hesitantly after everyone else had. When she finally did, she looked very angry, as though she were a child in time-out.

"No more Spanish," Otis said. "We don't need y'all keepin' secrets, makin' plans right in our face."

"Now, cross the stream," Lyrik said, her voice shaking slightly.

"You want us to just trudge through this water?" the leader said, looking a bit offended.

"Well, if you don't want to get wet, find another way around," Lyrik said.

Otis looked to her as if she were making a mistake. "Keep your hands up the whole time, though," he said.

The group trekked down stream, finding a part where the river thinned and they could easily jump across. Lyrik and Otis kept their guns trained on them all as they made their way across the river. The woman made it to them and introduced herself as Selenis. Her companions were a fat man named Gabriel, a thin teenager named Oscar, the blonde mouthy girl as Abi-Maria, and a very beautiful though short brunette as Shakira. "No relation," she said after getting an inquisitive look from Lyrik. All of them were clearly Latino, and apparently fluent in Spanish.

"Mr. Garza?" Lyrik asked, awestruck, to the fat man.

He squinted, and then his eyes grew very large. "Lyrik?"

Lyrik kept her gun up, but awkwardly smiled at him. "Uh, hi."

Otis took the weapons they had and Hershel came out to them, followed Xavier, Seth, and Shawn who were armed to the teeth, and the wall of snipers still in action. The Hispanic group kept their hands up, ready to be spoken to. "So, you haven't fired at my group," Hershel said. "You haven't tried anything to resist. I'm going to assume you're good people. But you need to answer to me. Where did you come from, where were you going, and what do you want?"

"What do _we _want?" Abi-Maria yelled. "You stopped _us!"_

Selenis looked to her, giving her a death glare and checking around for any incoming walkers. Just as she expected, a few materialized from the woods. "Mirónes!" she said to her group, who turned to the walkers, or mirónes as they called them, lifted their guns, and opened fire, all of them going down with nearly only one shot per walker.

Seth whistled, impressed. "Hersh, you gotta let these guys join us. We need that kind of firepower."

The fiery blonde Latina turned to Seth, looking angry as ever. "What makes you think we want to join your little group?" she said, her accent noticeably thick.

"Well," the fat man apparently named Gabriel spoke up, "staying in one place for a while wouldn't be the _worst_ thing."

Selenis and Shakira nodded their heads. Abi-Maria crossed her arms angrily and continued trying to convince her group to move on. "Fine, let's stay here with these complete strangers and let them kill us in our sleep."

"Abi, we're all strangers. Stop it right now." Selenis turned to Hershel, "So, can we stay? Promise I'll keep an eye on this one here for you," she said, pointing to Abi-Maria, who angrily gasped.

Hershel turned to his people. Seth and Otis shrugged, Lyrik and Shawn nodded, and Xavier shook his head no. "They may be kind of useful, but I don't trust that mouthy one."

Hershel nodded and turned back to Selenis and her group. "Well, so long as you don't make trouble. But if any of you hurt any of my family, my people, in any way, we are not afraid to kick you out, or kill you if it comes to it."

The group of five nodded understandably, aside from Abi-Maria, of course. Hershel narrowed his eyes at her and she groaned, "Sí, I get it."

Hershel led the group back, with the same gut feeling he had about letting in the past two groups. Those two groups had proved to be good people, though, so he brushed off the feeling. 'Third time's the charm' is just a dumb old saying, right?


	16. Chapter 16: Friendly

**Chapter 16 "Friendly"**

**Day 37**

The new group seemed to be great, all but the obvious one being very friendly. Selenis and Gabriel seemed to be the nicest, with Oscar and Shakira seeming to mostly keep to themselves, like shy children. Abi-Maria stayed to herself, as well, but she literally stayed to herself. No one spent any time with her, and when they did, she would either complain or insult them. To her group, she tried to convince them that it was time they got moving. She would taunt and tease some people of Hershel's group. Originally, she tried to convince a few of them - namely Robert, Xavier, Sierra, Jessie, Patricia, and Beth - that they should leave with her and her group, often promising things way too great to be real, such as a huge, safe community up north, and reunion with people they had lost.

It was really quite pathetic. Even the people she had been traveling with had grown to hate her and spent as little time as possible with her. She absolutely hated it here, and loathed the thought of staying here with a bunch of hillbillies - or 'heelbeellies' as she called them. She hated Otis, Shawn, and Hershel the most. They were three hicks that she didn't want to spend the rest of her life, let alone five minutes, with.

Lyrik had realized that Gabriel was in fact her and Robert's old Spanish teacher from Hobbs. "So, how did you get here?" Robert had asked him, the three of them eating breakfast on the front porch.

"Well, back in Hobbs, things quickly fell apart. Marina," his wife, "and I got out of there with Emilia - you know, Ms. Navarette - and we made it to a survivor refuge set up by the government in Lubbock."

"So, you were in Hobbs when it happened?" Lyrik asked, curious about the state it and others were in.

"Yeah, I was. I saw a lot of people die before I left, though," Gabriel said sadly.

"I know it's hard to think about, maybe even to remember, but," Robert said hesitantly, "do you remember seeing anything? People we know getting out, or even dying? Or getting bit?"

"Um," Gabriel began. "I know I saw LaRissa's parents die. They got devoured. Mya got out with her mom and little brother, but I think her mom was bitten. Ryan and Tanner got out, but I'm not sure about their parents. Anastasia's parents died, but I know she made it out with some of her friends. I think maybe her brother, too. I know she had Skyler with her. Lily's family got out. Robert, I'm sorry, but I think your mom died. I don't know what happened to your dad. Lyrik, I can't remember if I saw any of your family. I saw Tari and Kari and their whole family die, though, along with a pretty much everyone else. They were in Walmart and a lot of walkers were on the way, and somehow the whole place went up in flames. Hundreds of people must have died there. It was awful to watch," Gabriel said, drifting off.

He was obviously haunted by these things. They couldn't imagine what it must have been like for him. Robert slightly regretted asking about it, and was tempted to apologize, but there was no reason to. He was just thankful that he knew how things turned out. "So, you were saying? About Lubbock?"

"Right. Lubbock. That's where Marina, Emilia, and I met Selenis, Oscar, and Shakira. We left a few days before it was apparently destroyed, because we went back and it was in ruins. Us and about seven other people made it out of Texas, and we met Abi-Maria and one of her friends not long after. We stayed with another group of people, but we found out they were murdering innocent people they met, for no reason. We tried to escape, but they killed my wife and a few friends of ours. We barely made it out, and we've been on foot ever since, sleeping in small houses or making little camps at night. Everyone else died as we made it this way. How did you guys get here?"

"Well," Lyrik started, "it was kinda my idea. Not sure how smart it was, though, thinking back on it now."

"Lyrik planned for me, her, Lily, and LaRissa to have a senior trip. We left like a week before this all started. We were in Georgia when it happened, and we met Hershel and his family. Then we met Seth and some of his friends, and he was followed by people he had apparently stolen from. They burned down Hershel's farm, and forced us out onto the road. We were constantly traveling ever since, and we met Xavier and Sierra, and they had apparently taken care of one of Seth's people's kids. Ron in there. They were at the same refugee camp Jessie was in, and they were the babysitters. They took care of Ron ever since the place was overrun."

"Wow," Gabriel said. "I guess we've all been through a lot, huh?"

"Yeah," Lyrik said.

"So, where are Lily and LaRissa?" Gabriel asked casually, and regretted it instantly when he saw their reactions. "Oh, no," he said. "I'm so sorry."

"It's fine," Robert said as Lyrik grabbed his hand to comfort him. "We're not the only ones who lost people. You lost your wife."

Gabriel solemnly nodded his head. "I did," he paused, and thought back to it. "She was shot right in the back, trying to help one of our friends who had been shot in the ankle. I had no choice but to leave her. I still wonder sometimes, what if I had gone back? She could have made it. I was so selfish."

Robert stared blankly at Gabriel, understanding the pain. "You can't blame yourself," Lyrik said. Gabriel wiped a tear from his eye and looked down to his food. He wasn't hungry anymore.

"LaRissa was the first to go," Robert said, blankly looking into the woods behind Gabriel's head. "Some jackass basically threw her to walkers. Let them bite her."

"But he sacrificed himself to them right after," Lyrik said. "So that we could escape safely."

Robert stayed silent for a few more moments as Gabriel and Lyrik sadly looked on. "Lily died about three weeks later. We went scavenging in a supermarket, and we made the mistake of all splitting up. Solo. Lily was attacked by two walkers. She died with this," Robert said, pulling his white-handled machete out of the holster he never took off. "She found it in there, and tried to use it to kill the walkers, but I dunno. I guess she just couldn't get it. So I put her down, and I took the knife for myself."

Gabriel nodded his head and pulled out a pistol from his holster. He turned it around so Robert could see it had a pink trigger. "Marina found this in the armory of the place we were staying. She used it to kill her first walker. She put it in my bag when we escaped. 'For just in case,' she said. Now it's the only pistol I use. Gave mine to Oscar."

Robert smiled slightly to Gabriel. "Recycling," he called it. "I think that's beautiful."

Lyrik smiled, and jokingly said, "When you die, Robert, I'll take your machete and that semi-auto you always carry around. Recycling!"

Robert and Gabriel laughed. "That sure is comforting," Robert said, smiling. "That's dark, bitch."

"Is that a black joke?" Lyrik said, and they all shared a laugh.


	17. Chapter 17: After

**Chapter 17 "After"  
><strong>**Day 45**

Over the last ten days, things had been going just about as well as would be expected. Abi-Maria brought in a lot of drama for a while, but then seemed to have just given up. Everyone else carried on as usual all throughout it. Beth's fingers had healed to the point that touching them no longer hurts, but she still had to keep it wrapped while the skin healed back. Selenis had been given a lot of trust in leading a scavenging group a few days ago, and it went successfully. They had found many supplies in a town about seven miles south of them named Bunker, and even scouted out a few places around it in case something went wrong.

Abi-Maria had seemed to be keeping to herself for the past few days, and everyone had assumed that she had given up. That is, until she began stealing and breaking things that belonged to people in her group and blaming it on the people she despised. She broke the glass of a photograph on one of Oscar's pictures of his family, ripped a hole in Shakira's favorite sweater, and stole Gabriel's pink-triggered pistol and Selenis's makeup box. They found the gun and makeup box hidden behind a few bales of hay in the barn, and the glass fragments from Oscar's photo in the trash can in the basement, where the group stayed. She tried framing Hershel and his people, but she was doing it so carelessly and obviously.

"Hershel, I know you don't believe in killing people like that," Selenis told Hershel, the two sitting privately in the room he shared with Maggie, who was currently in Shawn and Beth's room, "and neither do I, but we have to do something. I thought once she realized that none of us wanted to go with her she would just leave on her own, or give up and become a part of the group, but apparently I was wrong. I'm afraid of what she'll do if we keep her around any longer."

Hershel looked grimly at Selenis. "I know she's dangerous," he said hesitantly, "but is there any chance she could change? We can't just throw her to the walkers, and I certainly won't have her killed," he said firmly, clenching a fist at the thought of killing another living being.

"I don't think we have much of a choice, Hershel. I've known her long enough to know that when she thinks something, when she's truly set on it, she'll do whatever it takes to get her way. You can try to talk her down all you want, but she just won't get how wrong she is. She's like a wolf desperate for food, even if that means killing her own. I would know," she said, drifting off.

Hershel worriedly stared at her. "Has she.. has she killed her own?"

Selenis looked into his eyes, silently conveying that she had.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she said. The middle-aged woman was hoping she wouldn't have to say it, but it now appeared that she must. "We met her with this girl she apparently grew up with. Her name was Rosa. A week after they joined our group, she shot Esmeralda in cold blood after a huge argument about whether or not we should leave that place we were in. Esmeralda may have been on a side that promoted, or more accurately just turning a blind eye to, killing of innocent people for survival, but Abi-Maria actually did it. She just took her down, right in the middle of their arguing. And when she was asked about it by Oscar later, we thought she was gonna kill him, too. She even said that Esmeralda was a huge bitch, and that she didn't regret it at all."

Hershel looked into her eyes in fear. "I guess we have to get her out of here, then. Do you know how, though?"

"I have an idea. There was this town we scavenged a while back. The one you made me lead at. Bunker. We could tell her we're going on another run. Pack her some supplies, fix up a car we find out there, and eventually break it to her that she's out of the group. Leave her with the supplies and car and she'll go on alone. She's strong enough to survive on her own. She'll probably find other people, they might be like her."

Hershel nodded his head. "Alright," he said. "Let's get this show on the road, then. I want to do this as soon as possible."

The two left the room, and Selenis winked at Gabriel, signalling that the plan was in action. They went downstairs to the basement and began to pack Abi-Maria's stuff while she was in the bathroom, along with a bit of food and medical supplies. When they were done, Gabriel sat in the living room as though he had no idea what was going on and Selenis waited outside of the bathroom for Abi-Maria. When she exited, Selenis told her in Spanish, "I know you don't want to be around them, but you better get ready. We're going on a run, and I want you to come with us. Me, Hershel, Gabriel, and you. Maybe some others that Hershel wants to bring."

Abi-Maria looked both angry and slightly puzzled. "Hershel's going?"

"Well, he is the leader, after all. He just wants to finally feel like one."

"It's about fucking time he pulled some weight around here."

"You've been whining, crying, bitching, and sleeping in this room for ten days straight. Shut the fuck up."

Hershel came down the stairs and listened. "Still speaking in Spanish? Not hiding any secrets, are you?"

"Sorry, Hershel," Selenis said. Abi-Maria rolled her eyes, picked up her gun, and headed upstairs to wait at the door. Selenis and Hershel followed her up. "Come on, Gabe," Selenis said, and Gabriel pushed himself up, slightly struggling to stand.

As they were going out the door, Maggie came down the stairs. "Daddy? Where are you going?"

"Sorry, dear. I almost forgot to tell you. I'm going on a run. We'll be back in a few hours."

"With them?" Maggie asked, looking to the three Mexicans. "Alone? Are you sure, Daddy?"

"Yes, dear, everything's fine."

"But," Maggie began, looking right to Abi-Maria, who immediately scoffed when she realized what Maggie had implied. "Daddy, I don't care what you say, I'm coming with you."

"Well, alright," Hershel said, not wanting to argue too much. Selenis and Abi-Maria speaking in Spanish made him a little bit nervous that they could have been plotting against him, and he took comfort in knowing he'd have someone he trusted with him, even though it was his daughter, who he wanted to stay at the house, safe. He yelled into the kitchen where Patricia and Robert were making dinner, "We're going on a run. We'll be back in a couple hours."

"Okay," Patricia and Robert said in unison, then looked to each other, confused that Hershel was going. Patricia nodded her head to Robert, gesturing for him to go ask about the situation.

Robert ended up with the same story Maggie was told, and when he offered to go, Hershel made a strong, resounding "No, damn it," that he was not about to argue with. Hershel made an apologetic look after yelling at Robert, who nodded nervously in return. He felt guilty about yelling, but he knew Robert could take it. He just didn't want too many people put at risk, and not everyone needed to know what they planned to do to Abi-Maria.

The five got into Hershel's RV, and he drove into Bunker. Just outside of town, a van that looked to be in pretty good condition, though a bit dusty, was parked on the side of the road. The group got out and took down a few walkers around it. Gabriel got to work immediately after the walkers were taken care of. "Why the hell are we on the side of the road, fucking with an ugly old van?" Abi-Maria asked, complaining as always.

"Well, we can't always use the RVs," Selenis said. "They aren't very practical for runs like this, now are they?"

Abi-Maria rolled her eyes and watched as Gabriel tweaked with the van. Hershel finally got the van to start up, and he went into the RV with Maggie. Gabriel pretended that he still had to work on the van while Hershel was in the vehicle explaining what this run was really about to Maggie. She nodded, and finally understood. They exited the RV, Maggie carrying the bag they had packed for Abi-Maria.

"What the fuck is this?" Abi-Maria said in Spanish to Selenis.

"This," Selenis said in English, "is where we give you the news. As of today, you are no longer a member of this group. You've caused too much trouble and pain, and you obviously don't want to be there. So now you get your wish. You get to leave. We packed you a bag with all of your things in it plus some food and medicine to help you survive."

"This is bullshit, are you kidding me?" Abi-Maria said angrily. She grabbed her bag and began crying, but she still looked more angry than sad. "Are there any tissues in here?"

"There are rags," Hershel told her.

Abi-Maria opened the bag and began looking, pretending she was looking for the rags, but actually looking for a gun. Grabbing the one in her holster now would be too obvious, so she had to make use of the bag. Her finger slid against something metal, and she smiled slightly to herself. She quickly pulled it out and began firing it. Panicked, Selenis took cover behind a large rock as Gabriel ran off into the woods in the direction of the road back to the house. Maggie and Hershel attempted to run for the van, but Abi-Maria shot Maggie in the leg, causing her to double over in pain. "Maggie!" Hershel yelled, stopping to attempt to help her stand. "Come on, baby," he said, bringing her to one knee. He wasn't going to leave his daughter, his flesh and blood. He was trying his hardest to get his daughter up and to safety, and if he were strong enough, he would have just picked her up and carried her.

Behind the rock, Selenis had her gun and was firing it at Abi-Maria, who was now taking cover behind the van. As Selenis shot again, she got Abi-Maria in the left shoulder after she had shot Maggie's leg, causing her to scream in pain and fall back behind the van. After a few minutes of peace, Selenis considered leaving cover and going to make sure Abi-Maria was dead, hearing Hershel scream for his daughter and attempted to help her, when suddenly another shot rang and a loud thud hit against the RV. Hershel had been shot right in the chest, and had fallen over dead onto the side of the vehicle. Maggie screamed as his dead corpse fell on top of her. Luckily, his body shielded her from further bullets from Abi-Maria. Selenis realized as the gunshot was becoming slightly softer than Abi-Maria was running away, into the woods. Selenis peaked past the rock just in time to see Abi-Maria engulfed by the trees, wearing the backpack they had packed for her, her left shoulder sloppily bandaged and obviously bleeding a lot. She had left the van behind running south, closer to Bunker.

Selenis raised from her position, firing a few parting shots in Abi-Maria's direction, and ran to see what had happened. Gabriel was nowhere to be seen. Around the side of the RV, she was shocked to see two lifeless bodies. "Hershel," Selenis said, her voice quivering. "Maggie…" Selenis dropped to her knees. This was all a huge mistake.

"Help!" a small, muffled voice said underneath Hershel's body. _Maggie's alive!_ Selenis happily thought as she rolled Hershel's body off of Maggie, who was bleeding profusely from the right leg. Selenis helped Maggie to her feet, and they struggled into the RV. Selenis laid her down on the couch. "My daddy," Maggie said. "Please tell me he's still alive. Still breathing. Has a pulse. Answer me, damn it!" Selenis sadly looked away from Maggie, and she began crying violently. "Stop! He's okay! He's going to be okay!" Selenis solemnly stayed quiet, doing her best to disinfect and wrap Maggie's wound. "Get him. Go get him. We need to take him back. Get him help."

"Bury him," Selenis stated. "We'll see what help we can get him, if any, but I don't want you getting your hopes up. He's dead, Maggie. We're going to take him back to bury him."

Maggie lifted her arm and sobbed into it, weeping desperately. Selenis finished treating the wound and stood up. She looked down at Maggie sadly and exited the vehicle, dragging Hershel's lifeless body into the RV, onto the floor in front of the couch Maggie was lying on. Maggie grimly looked down at her father, speaking to him quietly, searching hopelessly for a response.

Selenis wordlessly went to the driver's seat, started up the RV, and drove back to the house.

Not ten minutes later, Selenis spotted a large figure on the side of the road, headed towards the house. It was Gabriel. She pulled over the RV. "What's going on?" Maggie asked as Selenis opened the door to let Gabriel in. He was smiling happily to her, not knowing how darkly things had turned out. He thought that everyone was fine. That no one had died, at least. As he entered, he nearly stepped on Hershel's hand, and he saw the tragedy that had happened to the father and daughter. Selenis went straight back to the driver's seat, remaining silent. Gabriel sat in the passenger seat next to her. He didn't push her to talk. He knew Selenis. When she was ready, or when she needed to, she would speak. They quietly drove back home.

About a mile out, Hershel began to move, and Maggie screamed happily, scaring Selenis, and making her drive off the road, shaking everyone up. Selenis and Gabriel got whiplash, and Maggie had fallen on top of her father and was hugging him gleefully, crying into his chest. She looked up at him with a huge smile to see that he had turned. He was a walker. Maggie's smile flipped. Her world crashed down around her. Not only was her father dead, he was a walker, too. She rolled off of him and pushed him back. He began crawling near her as she bawled, her hands over her head in shock and sorrow. Seeing her dad like this, for such a dumb reason, for a reason that could have just been taken care of some way else, was the worst thing that could happen to her. She though about how alone she was now. As her undead father came closer, she began to give up. She reached out her left hand, giving Hershel what he wanted. If he wanted her to turn so badly, she was going to give her dad one last wish, even if he was no longer truly himself. He chomped down onto her hand, digging into the flesh and bone, blood splattering around, and Maggie screamed in pain.

Then, a deafening bang went off, amplified by the metal on the walls and the enclosed room. Selenis had put down Hershel, and she went to Maggie to checking her. Her hand was a mangled, disgusting mess. "Fuck," Selenis said. She looked back to Gabriel and began to take off her belt and she put it around Maggie's arm.

Gabriel looked at her in shock. "Are we really going to try that?" he said, sounding very panicked.

"I don't think we have much of a choice. Honestly, what have we- what does she have to lose?" Selenis said, her face looking as unsure as Gabriel's. "Get me something we can do this with."

Gabriel got out of his seat and looked through his bag and handed her an ax, coming around to also put the wooden handle of a knife into Maggie's mouth. "Bite down if it hurts, and do your best not to flinch, please. We don't want anything to- well, just don't flinch," Gabriel told Maggie, looking very nervous. He got behind her and held onto her, bracing her for what was to come.

Maggie began to panic, not knowing what they were planning. In an instant, Selenis swung her ax down on Maggie's hand, severing it halfway through the wrist. Maggie screamed hysterically, biting into the wooden handle as Gabriel did his best to hold her and keep her still. Selenis swung once more, hoping to finish off the job, but because of Maggie's panic, her aim was slightly off and it only went a few inches deeper. "Maggie, calm down," she said. Selenis took one final swing, and the hand came off. Gabriel immediately began cleaning up after her, attempting to stop the bleeding. Selenis threw the hand out the window and quickly got back to driving to get Maggie to better help with Patricia.

They drove up into the yard, parking as close to the house as possible, and Selenis quickly ran in to get people outside to help. Gabriel picked up Maggie, using one hand to hold a once-white sheet over her arm, and began to carry her inside. He was met halfway to the door by Seth, Shawn, Patricia, Robert, and Lyrik, led by Selenis. Seth and Shawn took Maggie from Gabriel, and they carried her into the living room and onto the couch. Patricia bent over her and with the help of Robert and Lyrik, they stopped the bleeding and did their best to sew it up as best they could.

Much of the group sat at the kitchen table looking confused at first, creating a familiar scene, but then they realized that it was Maggie and that she had been injured, and they did their best to help, fetching towels and water and other such things for Patricia. "Where's Hershel?!" Patricia asked, swamped.

Selenis was reminded of what had happened, and she grew silent once more. Gabriel whispered to Patricia that he had been killed, and Shawn went outside to the RV to check for him, where he found Hershel dead, blood all over the RV, and a gunshot right through his head. Shawn began crying and clenched his fists. He stormed back into the house and punched Selenis right in the face, Gabriel being too far away, and she fell to her knees. "You killed my father!" Selenis looked up at him in shock, and rose back up, punching Shawn in the face, and they began to wrestle, punching, kicking, and biting. Seth and Gabriel finally managed to broke it up and they both had bruises on them. Shawn had a black eye, and Selenis had bruises beginning to form on her cheek, and scratches and more bruises were scattered across their bodies.

"I didn't kill your dad!" Selenis said, spitting at Shawn, who furiously threw another punch in response, and Seth tried to hold him back, but he managed to get Selenis right in the nose. "You motherfucker!" she yelled, and Gabriel and Seth struggled to keep them off of each other as they resisted once more.

"Fucking _stop it!"_ Seth screamed, pushing Shawn into a wall and turning to do the same to Selenis. "Now both of you assholes calm down and explain what happened, _civilly._"

Selenis took a deep breath, and decided to just say it. "We were kicking Abi-Maria out of the group. Me, Gabriel, Hershel, and Maggie went to go leave her in Bunker. But when we told her, she tricked us by looking through the bag of supplies we gave her, saying she needed a rag, but pulling out a gun, shooting Maggie in the leg, and then killing Hershel. She meant to kill all of us, but she got them."

"And why the fuck is that?!" Shawn asked angrily.

"I don't know! To be honest, they didn't make the smartest move. Gabriel ran into the woods, I hid behind a large nearby rock, and they tried to run a good thirty feet to get to the RV."

"_So you're saying it's their fault?!" _Shawn questioned, absolutely furious.

"Would you please take this somewhere else?!" Patricia asked, trying to concentrate and keep Maggie calm.

"No," Selenis said. "I'm saying it's my fault. I should have pulled them behind the rock, or helped them more somehow."

"You're damn right it's your fault! Yours, too, Gabriel! Pussying out like that, really? Fuck you both! My dad's dead because of you assholes!"

"I'm sorry," Selenis said.

"Stop that," Seth said. "That could have been anyone, Shawn. It wasn't their fault. It was fuckin' Abi-Maria. Fuck that bitch, not this one."

Hesitant to speak, Lyrik, who was helping with Maggie, asked, "Um, but what happened to Maggie? You said she got shot in the leg, but that's already been doctored. What happened to her arm?"

Selenis grimly turned to her and spoke with solemn seriousness. "When Hershel died, he turned. And he wasn't even bit. We've all seen walkers around that hadn't been bit, right? Well, I think I know why. When you die, no matter how you die, you come back."

Everyone looked on, horrified. Shawn worriedly looked up to Seth, who was still holding him. Seth let go, his mouth open in disbelief. "You're lying, aren't you?" Seth asked.

"You think so? Go look at Hershel's body. Does that just look like death to you? Like he hadn't turned? You know how Maggie lost her hand? Hershel bit it off. And we amputated it to save her."

Shawn looked like he was about to punch her again. "You _amputated _her _arm_? Are you fucking _crazy?!_"

"No," Selenis said. "We've met people who survived like that. In that place we were at, where we escaped from. Some of the people there had survived walker bites through immediate amputation."

"Well, you better fucking hope it works, or I'm going to kill you for both of their deaths," Shawn warned.

Selenis and Gabriel nodded grimly, hoping to whatever gods may be out there that this worked. Not just for their sake, but for everyone's.


	18. Chapter 18: It Worked

**Chapter 18 "It Worked"**

**Days 49 & 50**

It was a cold, foggy day, and it would be an even colder, foggier night. It has been four days since the group lost Hershel, and nearly lost Maggie. From an outsider's perspective, things were looking up for her. She had recovered from her wounds as best as one can in four days, the group has considered branching out to nearby houses, and the garden in the back yard has been extended and new winter crops have been planted just in time for autumn.

The group had an election that morning to elect a new leader after Hershel's death. The three candidates were Seth, Shawn, and Selenis.

Robert, Gabriel, Oscar, and Shakira voted for Selenis, as she had proven to them to be a quick-thinking, capable leader. For the people in Selenis's group, they had been around her a very long time, and trust her with their lives. It was a no-brainer. Robert didn't have nearly as much experience and closeness, but he had just as much faith in her. She had saved Maggie's life, and knew a lot about surviving out there. Though she shut down a little bit under pressure, that flaw was not bigger than Seth and Shawn's to him. Seth was very flippant, which could be funny in conversation, but it wasn't great for leader material. He often acted on impulse, and his ideas changed easily and quickly, like how he went from shooting at Xavier and Sierra to shrugging his shoulders and letting them in without protest, or any uneasiness. Of course, Xavier and Sierra proved to be great people, but there was always the chance that they weren't, and if they had been bad people, Robert would have blamed Seth. Shawn was a hothead, and if something set him off, he could be deadly. Under pressure, he would be an awful person to have to turn to for advice, as his mind was always fogged with rage when something set him off.

Jessie, Xavier, Sierra, and Lyrik voted for Seth as leader. Jessie, just like with Selenis's group, trusted her ex-leader with her life. To her, he was great, and was very capable, though he did brush off her son, but who could blame him? That was in the past now. Ron didn't get to vote, as Jessie thought that Ron didn't need to be reminded of the world outside of these walls anymore than he had to when he was away from her. Xavier and Sierra voted for Seth because they saw his potential, and believed that he would make a great leader if he needed to. Lyrik voted for Seth because she thought he was hot. _Thanks, Lyrik,_ Robert thought sarcastically.

Otis, Patricia, Beth, Maggie, and Amanda voted for Shawn. Otis and Patricia had watched Shawn grow up, and being raised by Hershel, they knew that he could lead the group to greatness. Beth and Maggie had a similar point of view. They knew he had a temper, but when it was necessary, their brother could really help the group out and had a good grasp on how to keep them together. Maggie originally didn't want to vote, but decided to give her opinion since otherwise, it would be a three-way tie. The four believed that he was the only appropriate choice, since he was the son of their previous leader, after all. Amanda voted for him because over the past few weeks, ever since she opened up to him, she had developed a crush on him. She thought he was cute and thoughtful, and that if worst came to worst, he could be their best hope.

If you can't count, or just didn't pay attention, Shawn won by one vote. Everyone congratulated him, some giving him hugs or kisses. Maggie gave him the longest, most heartfelt hug, which surprised Shawn a bit. _What's got her so emotional about this?_ he thought. The whole situation just dug a knife deeper into Maggie, a huge reminder of just how gone Hershel was. His absence was so big that they needed a formal election for someone to fill his role. After kissing her brother once more, she went up to her room.

Selenis was moderately relieved that she didn't have to have all of these people's lives on her shoulders as the leader. Seth, however, was actually very jealous of Shawn, and he thought that he would be a much better leader than young, dumb farm boy ever could be. He was even mad at Amanda for not voting for him. _I've been nothing but a great leader to you_, he thought. _So what if you were like the last person to join me? So what if that whiny bitch you called a friend died? I've always protected you. If you think I can't now that there's more people, you're damn wrong._

* * *

><p>That afternoon, Maggie waited until everyone was beginning to lie down or get ready for bed, right after dinner. She was upstairs in her room that she used to share with her father. His stuff was still littered about the room. She couldn't bare to move anything around, or to let anyone move in with her. Thankfully, no one had asked her to do any of that.<p>

In her hand, she was holding a rope her father used to use around the farm that he kept in the back of the red truck. She was tying it into a noose, which proved to be very difficult using just one hand. She used to practice making ropes into different knots, including a noose, when she was younger. She compared it to how Shawn used to whittle wood with his father. It was like a child in the scouts, learning how to do things that usually wouldn't prove to be very useful, but were definitely interesting to them.

Looking at her missing hand, she thought of her father. She thought of her sister, too. This was the same hand that Beth had lost fingers off of.

"Now we're kinda like twins," Beth had said the day Maggie woke up.

"Sisters wasn't good enough for you?" Maggie had replied jokingly.

She had this plan in mind for a while now, and tonight cemented it. _Everyone else would be fine without me. They have a leader now, and no one would really care too much,_ she thought. _Of course, Beth and Shawn will. But they're family. They have to care. Beth is growing up, becoming strong. She'll understand. She'll move on and be okay… God, I feel so alone. I'm sorry, Daddy._

The night was perfect. Foggy and cold. No one would notice, and they'd have no reason to just be going outside with how cold it was. They wouldn't have to know. Plus, she had said her goodbyes. Sort of. She gave Shawn his congratulations and a kiss. When Ron was playing with Robert and Lyrik, she had told them to take care of themselves, and to look out for each other. She told Beth how much she loved her just a few moments ago. Se wished Otis and Patricia a great marriage and to never lose one another, and thanked them for always being there for her, basically being aunt and uncle to her.

Once the noose was secure, she knew it was time. She grabbed the rope and shoved it down into her pants, hoping it wouldn't look too obvious. She exited her room, and was upset to see Jessie talking in the hall with her son. Clearly, he wasn't ready to go to bed just yet. Maggie smiled to Jessie and made her way downstairs and sighed. _Thank you, Ron,_ she thought to herself.

She made her way downstairs and noticed that Shakira and Oscar were in the living room, talking to each other inaudibly. She pulled back the sliding door slowly and went outside, silently closing the door behind her. She sighed once more, relieved that no one had noticed her go outside. She made her way to the small barn and began to shiver, clutching herself.

The barn was ajar, and she slightly slid it open enough to where she could squeeze through without it being too blatant from the backdoor. She peaked to it, and could barely see anything through it from the fog. She turned back around and peered into the darkness, which was only getting darker as time passed. She looked around for the beam nearest to a hay stack or other thing of easy elevation. One had nothing beneath it, and she would need to stack up many things in order to reach it, which would just waste time. The other had a few too many haystacks underneath it. She took the lesser of two evils and went with the too-high one, doing her best to kick down a few levels of hay. Finally, after what felt like ages, she managed to get enough down to where she could only reach the beam if she raised her arms all the way up.

She pulled the rope out of her pants and noticed that it had slightly burned her leg. _No matter, _she thought, and she tossed the rope over them beam and fastened it as tightly as she could. She stuck her head through and let go. She let go of her pain. Let go of her anguish. Let go of her mourning. Let go of her suffering. Of this cruel world. Of her loneliness. Of this miserable existence she now was forced to call life.

It was painful, the air being forced out of her in such a painful, neck breaking way. She almost regretted it. Almost wanted to take it all back. Almost felt foolish, regretful. But it was too late.

* * *

><p>The next morning, no one could find her. Shawn, being the leader, took charge of the situation. He called the group together for a meeting, and Jessie and Ron mentioned that they last saw her going downstairs, looking a little bit nervous. None of her stuff was missing at first glance, so it could be assumed that she hadn't ran away. Shawn took Seth, Xavier, and Sierra and headed out with them to search the areas she could be at. The river, the road to Bunker, and the edges of the woods. When they returned to the house, the group was back in the living room. If he hadn't seen them get up when he had left, Shawn would have assumed that they had never moved. Many people were in tears.<p>

"What happened?" Shawn asked.

Patricia was hugging Beth, who was bawling. Patricia looked up to Shawn. "She's in the barn," she said darkly. Shawn smiled for a half-second, and Patricia shook her head. She wasn't in there doing chores. "Otis found her when he was going to tend to the garden."

Beth looked to her hand, her missing fingers. At first, she thought it would always remind her of the love she and Maggie had. Of Maggie herself. But now, she feared that it would just haunt her. That it would be an inescapable reminder of the family she had lost.

Shawn wanted to ask what had happened to Maggie, but decided it best that he saw for himself. He took the same group he had left with to the barn, their weapons at the ready. He slowly opened the door and heard a familiar groaning sound. An unhuman, awful noise that only one thing made. He braced himself as he swung the door the rest of the way open. There, Maggie was turned, suspended in the air by a rope, snapping and clawing for him. He needed no more proof that you turn no matter how you die.

Beginning to shed tears, Shawn raised his gun and fired it. Stunned, he missed. "Fuck," he whispered to himself. Xavier stepped forward, ready to put her down in case Shawn couldn't do it. Shawn fired it once more, and got her right in the head. Instantly, she fell lifeless, no longer scratching and clawing at the group, and blood began to trickle down her face through the bullet wound.

Too upset, Shawn left the barn and went inside to his room. He just wanted to be alone now. The other three took down Maggie's body and dragged her out to the area they had arranged for burials. They had a funeral for her immediately, putting her in the ground right next to her father.


	19. Chapter 19: Neighbors

**Chapter 19 "Neighbors"**

**Day 74**

Things had been relatively peaceful since Maggie's departure. Though it was morbid, Maggie's death could be seen as a new door. She and her father demonstrated important information to the group about death. Made them more aware of themselves at night, and gave them better information on how to conduct themselves. They made more plans, and everyone was armed at all times. Even Jessie and Ron, though every chance she got, Jessie took Ron's gun from him and locked both of theirs up in a closet in their room. Jessie didn't believe that she would ever need her gun, and that Ron was much too young to have to be exposed to the horrors of the world. Not anymore. Especially after the things he had gone through. To her, he needed rest. Time to recover. They all did, truly. _Soon,_ she thought, _this world will be set back into place. There will be no more walkers and mindless killing. We'll never get our loved ones back, but we can move on._

Despite a few members of the group saying that the group should not be split up (namely Robert, Xavier, Sierra, Patricia, Selenis, and Gabriel), Shawn declared that the group would be spacing out. "There were other houses in the forest, and we don't have to cram ourselves into this one for the rest of our lives," he said, defending his case. "I really don't want that. Do you?" he asked the whole group. The members who wanted the group together even admitted that not having to share rooms would be nice, but stood firm that it was not wise.

Shawn made Sierra and Xavier come with him, and Amanda and Seth volunteered to help out when they decided to go clearing out houses. They set off on the road leading towards Bunker and went down a dirt road that they didn't notice when they were first searching for a home. At the end of the road was a pretty small house, much smaller than the one they were in, and they went inside to clear it. Shawn turned the handle of the front door and it immediately fell off at the hinges. He sighed, and led them in. This house was definitely not suitable for people to live in. It seemed to have been abandoned long before the apocalypse and nature was definitely reclaiming it. Windows were broken, there were large holes in the ceiling and walls, grass was beginning to grow between cracks in the wall and the floor, and vines were pushing into the home furiously, bursting through windows as if Medusa were trying to break glass with her head alone. They decided to still check it for supplies, but the best thing they found was a lighter and a few matches that must have been left by some kids who sneaked in to smoke. Amanda spotted something that obviously wasn't familiar to the other people, as they looked it over, probably assuming it was a weird forest plant. Amanda picked up the marijuana when they left the room and stuffed it into her pocket. She felt slightly guilty, but she was more content than anything. She would finally be getting a little bit of downtime. Some nice, good, familiar distraction from not only the tragedy around her, but also herself.

They left the house with only the matches and lighters, and a few things here and there. This house was a bust. They continued down the road and found another dirt road that led to a large plot of dirt. It was clear that either the house there had been demolished or the land was just being prepared to be built on. "Yeah, Shawn," Xavier said. "Whole lotta houses around here, huh?"

Shawn rolled his eyes. "Well, the map showed a lot more offshoots, and I was pretty sure they all led to homes. What else'd they be for?"

They continued driving, and eventually made it to the outskirts of Bunker, passing right by the place where the others tried to drop off Abi-Maria. They didn't even realize that this was the place, though. As they passed, they saw nothing where a van once was.

The town seemed to be quite clear, as it was a very small place. As with everywhere, there were plenty of walkers, but there was much less than previous places they had been to, such as Albertville, Palmetto, and Guntersville. They didn't want to actually live in Bunker, though. It was a town, and they were wary of staying in those, especially one as crowded as a town. Not after losing three people in a row in the last town they stayed in. Plus, it was too far away from the house they were staying in for them to comfortably put others inside. However, in order to get to other parts of the forest without driving an RV into a deep river or impossibly weaving it through the thick forest, they had to pass through Bunker to make it to a highway that led around to the western side of the forest.

As they drove, they found three more roads off the side of the highway. One led to a dead end, that only made the people in the RV angry at the waste of gas. Another led to basically another dead end. It was a charred lot, with ruins of a very large house left behind. It had been burned down, which again made them angry. It appeared to be much bigger than the one they were in, and it would have served them well. The other led to a house similar to the other one, but not nearly as overtaken by nature. It didn't have nearly as much plant life growing in it, though some was beginning to sprout. There were no holes or cracks in the building, and it seemed moderately sturdy, along with it having more usable things than the other, similar house, but it was quite small and only one or two people could live in it, so they brushed it off for now. They weren't quite ready for the group to split up into factions as small as that. As they looked through it, in the back room they found two dead bodies propped up on a wall. One was wearing a brown dress, the other shorts and a very stained white shirt. There was very little skin left, and it was mostly just bones. They both had a gun in their hands, and it was clear they had killed themselves, which made Shawn look down at the ground, reminded of Maggie. Seth bent over and took their guns, both fully loaded minus a single bullet.

"You're just going to loot their bodies?" Amanda protested.

"Well, it's not much use to them now, is it?" Seth said factually. "Clearly, they don't need these anymore."

Finally, they found a road that looked quite promising. The road was dirt, but it seemed to be very worn and often used. Thus, it must lead to a house. "There could be people there, though," Xavier said. "The tracks look fresh enough."

"Well, we always welcome new friends, don't we?" Shawn said, slightly sarcastic and bitter about the last group leading to the deaths of his father and sister. No one laughing as he had hoped, he coughed. "Look, if they're any trouble we can handle it. It'll be fine."

"We don't know how many of them there are," Amanda said.

"Can we stop?!" Shawn yelled, getting frustrated. "We don't even know that there _are_ people there, but y'all are talking about this like we're about to face the mafia!"

Everyone in the RV shut their mouth tightly. Xavier and Sierra looked slightly annoyed, while Amanda seemed to feel guilty for causing Shawn to get so angry. She fingered the substance in her pocket. _Maybe he could use some, too,_ she joked to herself, trying to remain calm.

"Like I said," Shawn continued, driving slowly down the road. "If there's trouble, we can handle it. We're pretty much the strongest people in the group," Shawn said, before remembering that they had brought Amanda and he broke a smile. The group took it as him continuing to reassure them, and the tension faded into silence as they moved down the road, keeping their eyes peeled. They stared out of the windows and down the road, looking for signs of other people being around. A turn came up, and around the bend a large building with a red roof could be seen, with a gorgeous, triangle-shaped lake a ways behind it. The road continued past the house, and a building that looked very similar to it could be seen with about five cars in front of it, though most looked like they hadn't been touched in a while, being dusty old models.

Everyone grabbed up their weapons and bags, prepared for walkers, to simply scavenge, or potentially the worst: humans. Shawn parked the RV outside of the first building and everyone got out, guns and knives at the ready. They walked around the perimeter of the house, and Amanda noticed a few curtains shutting. She looked to the group, and they worriedly looked back, clutching their weapons, hoping this wouldn't have to end in a bloodbath.

Shawn didn't notice it, however, and though that Amanda was lying to convince the group to turn back. He rolled his eyes at her. _Pussy,_ he thought about her. They went back to the front of the house and Shawn put his hand on the doorknob and twisted it. Locked. "Of course it is," he thought aloud as he backed up and threw himself against the door.

"Shawn, what are you doing?!" Seth yelled to him, beginning to worry as he raised his gun to the windows, making sure they weren't going to be sniped.

"Getting in," Shawn said, backing up again and running at the door once more. "What does it look like?" he said after another unsuccessful throw.

On his third try, the door flew open before he could connect with it, causing him to fall ungracefully to the floor. He heard a click over his head like a gun being cocked and he scrambled to his feet, his gun raised back at the noise. Dimly lit, he could see that the person holding the gun was in fact a very young teen with long dirty blonde hair who looked ready to pull the trigger at any moment, her gun pointed right at his head. Behind Shawn, another gun could be heard. It was a rifle, and it had been cocked. He looked back quickly to see a tall, thin man in flannel pointing his rifle at the people outside.

"Who the hell are you people and what the fuck do you want?!" he yelled, his voice a mixture of anger and fear. Sierra and Xavier had their guns pointed at the man, while Amanda had her gun pointed at the young girl, ready to take the girl down if she tries to hurt Shawn. Seth kept his gun locked on the windows, making sure there weren't more that would easily snipe them.

Xavier, with a strangely calm voice - as though this was something he'd been through a lot - spoke up. "We thought the house was empty. We're only here to scavenge and make room for the rest of our group." As Xavier spoke, Seth noticed one of the curtains of the windows open, and a man could faintly be seen looking out at them. Before Seth could decide whether or not to shoot, the curtain closed and his chance disappeared.

"The rest of your group?" the boy said as he looked around the woods nervously before he drew himself closer into the shadows of the house.

Then, a loud thudding sound could be heard from deep inside the house. Shawn peeked away from the young girl once more to see a very robust man walking across a platform that the stairs led up to. The fam man was walking towards him down the stairs, his gun pointed between Shawn's eyes. The farm boy gulped. The large man looked very intimidating. He made his way to Shawn and stood beside the girl. "Lizzie, you know what I told you," he said. Shawn smiled to himself. _Little girl's gonna get told off for not staying in her room,_ he thought. _Serves her right, pointing a gun at my head, small as she is. _"Only aim for the head," the fat man finished, causing everyone in the group other than Xavier and Sierra to look on confused. This man let - taught, even - his daughter to shoot? To use guns at such a young age? They thought he must be a savage, or insane. Xavier and Sierra, however, completely understood, and were even a little bit envious that this stranger got a child that was _willing_ to fight - to help. Ron was just like his mother: incapable of even contemplating violence, and thus, incapable of protecting himself.

Soon after, a black woman and two thin, white young men appeared on the platform. The black woman was a bit pudgy, wearing a grey top and tight brown pants. One of the thin men was shorter, wearing tight black pants and a stained orange shirt. He had moderately long brown hair and freckles lightly sprinkled across his nose and upper cheeks, and appeared to be around Robert and Lyrik's age. The other was taller, with very short brown hair, wearing blue jeans and a loose blue plaid shirt. The black woman and the youngest-looking boy came down the stairs and stood beside the man and his girl. All of them had guns pointed at the group, causing Shawn and the others to be stricken with fear. The two that had joined the man clicked their guns, and Shawn gulped deeply. Fearing for his life, he dropped his gun and raised his hands. "Do it!" he yelled to the others, who angrily sighed, and followed his lead. Their guns were collected and they were brought inside.

The fat man sat them down at a couch, their hands tied up in rags, and he sat across from them in a big, red chair. He spoke to them as though they were criminals. "So, what were you _really_ here for?" he began, looking down the light at them, meeting each one of their eyes. "We know one of you saw us close a curtain, but you still tried to get in."

No one spoke, all of them looking to Shawn, some with anger. Amanda spoke up, not wanting them to hurt or endanger him. She was beginning to care a lot about him, and losing him now would be awful. Not only on her, but the whole group, and Beth. Especially Beth. "I made them do it," Amanda said shakily. "I saw the curtain and I decided that we should come in and loot it anyways. Take you all down."

Everyone looked to her, stunned. Why had she lied? And why would she say something like that? Shawn looked down at the ground in guilt as the large man stood up and began making his way to her. "She's lying," Shawn said. Everyone turned to her. "She did see the curtain move, but I'm the one who forced them to come inside." The fat man raised a brow at him, and opened his mouth to ask a question, but was interrupted by Shawn, who continued to say, "We're here to clear out houses for our group. Spread out."

"Spread out?" the man said. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Might as well just split up and make it official."

"What do you mean?" Amanda spoke up once more.

"What I _mean_," he said pointedly, "is that if you spread out, you might as well just agree to not communicate, travel, or be together in any way from then on. To separate. These are unsure times, and it's not smart to split into groups. A pack could come through, or a group could attack - sorta like y'all did. And then you'd be split up anyways."

Shawn looked to Xavier and Sierra, who were glaring at him with very intense "I told you so" faces.

Suddenly, a woman with very light purple hair and dark brown roots who made Xavier's eyes go wide came down the stairs, chasing after a short blonde girl in a brown dress who was in tears, crying "Daddy!" She ran to the man, and hugged onto him. "I didn't hear anything, so I thought they got you."

"Kelly! How could you let her get out like this?!" the man yelled, furious.

"I'm sorry, Ryan - sir, I mean. I just, she said she was going to go to the bathroom, and I didn't realize she was running off until I heard her feet banging off across the floor."

Ryan sighed, and looked down the young girl. "Mika, do you not get how dangerous this could have been? You aren't even armed. What was the plan here?"

"I'm sorry, daddy. I just thought that maybe they'd stop if I asked nice enough."

Ryan sighed and looked back to Shawn and his people. Now that they all seemed to be aware of their mistakes, the man looked at them. "Well," he said, "what should I do with you? You didn't hurt any of my people, though you did point two guns at my daughter."

"To be fair," Seth said, "she pointed a gun at us, too. We were only backing up our friend, covering our bases."

"Smart," the man replied. "But dumb. 'It is better to keep your mouth closed and let people think you are a fool than to open it and remove all doubt,'" Ryan quoted from Mark Twain. _Funny,_ he thought, _that of all the place I wind up and of all the quotes I remember, it's of this guy. Must be fate. Fuck you, fate._ "Don't speak up like that.. uh? What's your name?"

"What's _yours_?" Shawn gritted his teeth, furious about the quote Ryan had used against him.

"Ryan Samuels. Now tell me yours. All of you."

They went down the line, introducing themselves. Then, returning the motion, Ryan's people introduced themselves. The thin boy who was originally at the door's name was Allan, the black woman's name was Patti, the girl who pointed her gun at Shawn is named Lizzie, the other girl's name is Mika, and the two are sisters. The woman who came down the stairs with Mika is in named Kelly, and the other two thin boys are Daniel and Greyson, Greyson being the younger of the two who had freckles and walked down the stairs with Patti.

The whole time everyone was speaking, Xavier was unable to take his eyes off of Kelly, admiring every little feature of her. Her stance, her attitude, her appearance. She was like perfection to him. Kelly and Sierra both took notice of this. When Kelly noticed, he quickly turned his eyes away, shy and afraid. But she returned the stare, and they smiled. Sierra noticed the contact between the two, and felt a strange mix of jealousy and grief. She was sad that she and Xavier would likely never be together again, but she was relieved that she could move on with her life. That Xavier wasn't crazily attached to her anymore. They could all move on.

"So, what's going to happen from here?" Shawn asked.

Ryan smiled. "Now you get it. Kinda. You still spoke out of turn, but you know I'm the one in charge here." Shawn glared at Ryan for a split second, moderately angry about being talked down to like that. "Well, me and some of my people are going to go back to your place to check it out. From there, we're going to live together at whoever's place is the biggest. Don't want us splitting up now, do ya'? We'd be settin' you loose to regroup and come back and do whatever you want to my people, and we can't have that."

Shawn looked to the others, moderately angry, and was met only with shrugs. Xavier normally would be angry as well, but he was too interested in Kelly to object. Sierra didn't want to ruin that. Seth didn't care either way. Amanda wanted to feel angry for Shawn, but like Seth, she didn't care.

After a little bit of indecision of whether or not to bring the leader, Ryan took Shawn and Xavier with himself, Patti, and Daniel back to the house, much to Xavier's disappointment. He didn't know what it was, but he was passionately, scarily attracted to her, and he didn't want that at all. Not in this scenario, tied up as hostages. Not even in this world, where death lies around every turn. Everyone else would stay to watch over Seth, Amanda, and Sierra. Ryan kept them all tied up still as he led Shawn and Xavier to the black car they would be taking.

They arrived back at the house within a few minutes and were met with Robert, Selenis, Gabriel, Beth, and Otis standing along the house, pointing their guns to the unfamiliar car. When Shawn was pushed forcefully out of the car with a gun to his back by Daniel, Beth and Otis instantly put their guns down. "Don't shoot!" he yelled desperately, and the same was done to Xavier by Patti. The five at the porch looked among themselves and lowered their guns.

Ryan stepped out of the driver's seat with his hands up as a show of good will. "Your friends are perfectly fine. There is nothing to worry about. They haven't been hurt. The other three are with the rest of my people - surprisingly close to here."

"He's not lying," Shawn said.

"Jesus, Shawn, have you learned nothing?" the fat man said, irritation punctuating his words thickly. "Let 'em loose," he said.

Patti and Daniel swiftly swung knives down onto the ropes binding Xavier and Shawn's hands, startling them greatly. Shawn jumped, afraid his hands might have been cut off, while Xavier merely cringed and held his hands to his face when he was sure they were fine.

Ryan led them to the house, and they examined the place. It seemed fine for a group as small as theirs. However, it wouldn't do to move in eight more people. "It's settled," he said, not having to look around much. "You all have a new home!"

Beth looked worriedly to Shawn, just as others did among the nearest people. Shawn grimly nodded his head. "So, we have to leave?" Shawn questioned, and his voice began to fill with anger once more. "We can't stay here? My family is buried here! We have crops outside! When do you expect us to leave? Now?! We need to get everything, and you made us leave our strongest man behind!"

The large leader was simply smiling in response. "You really are just a little stick of southern dynamite, aren't you? I thought I told you all of this before we left. Either we all move into the biggest house, which is clearly ours, or we have to execute you all. Take it or leave it."

Shawn was greatly tempted to risk fighting for this house. There was only three of them, and they could totally take them on. In fact, they were almost guaranteed to win. But the problem was, as experienced with previous shootouts, people could die. People _would_ die. And there's no telling who could go. Even if a good number of them survived - even if just the strongest did, they would still have to go back and rescue Amanda, Seth, and Sierra. That would be another, much more dangerous shootout - and on top of it, they had disposable hostages. The risk was too big, so Shawn turned to his people. "Pack your things. It's this or death."

Ryan smiled greedily. He had won. He and his people helped the others pack, and they made their way back to Ryan's house, taking everything they could with them. The majority left in the RVs while Patti drove the car they had brought here back.


	20. Chapter 20: Bikers

**Chapter 20 "Bikers"**

**Day 85**

Just as all the past new groups that had meshed together with the other, they had grown together. This new group, just like Seth's had, had new information and tips to share on surviving and living long-term. When this first began, Daniel learned how to open cans without needing a can opener. All you had to do was put the top part against the concrete and rub it until it softens enough that you can simply squeeze the can to pop the top off. Patti knew a lot about herbs and natural ailments found through plants, and she passed on some of her knowledge to anyone that wanted to know it; mainly the medics like Patricia, Lyrik, and Jessie.

They had began to get used to each other, and to bond. Xavier and Kelly, especially. Nothing has happened yet, but there have been many tense moments and a lot of flirting between them. They were both very attracted to one another, and Sierra had felt a freedom she hadn't experienced in a long time.

More great feelings of attraction were brewing among many others, as well, but they weren't as successful. Ryan found Beth and Sierra very pretty, and made a few flirtatious comments, but they both denied him quickly. He even tried Patricia before he found out she was married to Otis, which caused him to blush furiously before running back downstairs, looking like a complete fool. Though she didn't feel the same, Patricia was very flattered.

Ron had a crush on Mika, and once she even let him hold her hand. Mika was about two years older than him, and she saw him as a baby compared to her, but she let him continue to flatter her.

Jessie found Ryan to be quite handsome, and thought he could be great husband material, but she kept those feelings to herself. There was no use in being so up-front with him just yet. He could be anybody.

Patti was into Seth, but like Jessie, she kept it to herself. Her reason, though, was more based on her insecurity, to be honest. _Why would a huge, muscular sex god like him like a short little fat old lady like me? He may not even like dark meat._

Robert became extremely attracted to Greyson and Daniel, and he constantly flirted with the two. Daniel occasionally flirted back, and revealed that he, too, is gay, but asked that Robert keep it quiet. Daniel wouldn't date Robert, though. Robert had hinted at it often and even asked a few times, but Daniel always turned him down. Daniel wanted to be looked up to by the stronger survivors. He wanted to be seen as an equal. He believed that if they discovered he was gay, he would be looked down upon, even though Robert was seen as valuable by many of the other survivors. To Daniel, they simply pitied Robert. He didn't want to be pitied. With Greyson, Robert had little luck, as well, as Greyson constantly pushed himself away and protested. He would sometimes even say to Robert that he was straight, but something about the way he said it, his actions, seemed like he was lying and, like Daniel, was insecure. Robert was beginning to grow desperate for attention, and tonight, he was going to make a move.

He would be going on a run soon with a few other survivors, so he had to act fast. An hour before Ryan and Shawn announced that they would be leaving, Robert sat in the living room, patiently awaiting the moment that Daniel would be alone. He was currently in his bedroom slightly down the hallway from the living room with Lyrik and Beth, who were also apparently in on his secret, talking about who-knows-what. Robert didn't care about that right now. Instead of the two leaving, Daniel instead came out, which surprised Robert a little as he pretended to read a book on the couch. Daniel still had a smile on his face, obviously having fun with the two girls. He headed for the bathroom on the opposite end of the hall, closer to the living room where Robert was sitting. As he entered, Robert quickly raised from his seat and pushed the door open as Daniel turned around to close it. Daniel raised an eyebrow and dropped his jaw slightly in confusion and shock. "What-"

"So you won't be with me," Robert stated. "But will you _be_ with me?" he said suggestively.

Daniel widened his eyes at Robert speaking so openly, with others likely nearby. He swiftly grabbed Robert by the arm and pulled him into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. "Look, I don't know what you're playing at, but-" Daniel's words were cut off as Robert pressed his lips against the man's. Robert kissed Daniel and opened his mouth, tonguing the other boy's lips, asking for entrance. Daniel's eyes were wide open, and the sensation was enough to drive him crazy.

Robert pulled out of the kiss just as Daniel was about to succumb. "Look, you and I both need this. You know it, I know it. So let's just get to it." Daniel looked to the floor, conflicted. He looked back up to Robert after a moment, and he smiled. They started kissing once more and Daniel turned on the shower. The house miraculously still ran water, though there was no heat to it, which was going to be awful as winter approached. They began to strip one another's clothes and slowly entered the water, where they would continue.

* * *

><p>An hour later, right on time, it was time for the run. Robert, who seemed to have a new glow about him, was the first one ready, and he reported to Ryan and Shawn, who were waiting in the car that was used to check out the old house.<p>

"Someone looks happy," Shawn commented, smiling to Robert.

"Maybe I just got used to the whole apocalypse thing," he replied.

"Uh-huh, sure," Shawn said, looking cheekily at the younger boy through the rear-view mirror. "Greyson finally give you some head?"

Robert coughed awkwardly, trying to change the subject. "So, who all's going?" Robert asked.

"Well, uh," Ryan began, glad the subject was changing, and taking a moment to think. "There's us three, Patti, and I think Greyson? Right?"

Shawn nodded, smiling deviously to Robert in the mirror again. "Yeah, Greyson."

Robert frowned to himself slightly. Though he was quite sure he now had it on lock with Daniel, he cared for Greyson much more. Robert knew how damaged Daniel was, and he wasn't sure he could take that kind of baggage. That kind of secrecy, all because of the gender roles Daniel still believed in, even though things had changed so much. The world around them was in no way what it used to be, but people still clung to their old morals like desperate housewives who still followed their abusive husbands despite all of the pain they put them through, simply for the joy that they once had with them. Or the happiness and kindness that was only shared with them in rare, small moments. It was sad.

Within the next ten minutes, the two had joined them and they made their way northwest. Today, they were scouting out an area they were planning to make an even bigger run to later. In about five days, maybe. For now, they just needed to make sure that the place was generally safe and clear. They were about a mile out from the city, where they learned its name was Salem. They parked the car on the highway going and disguised the car into the woods, camouflaging its usefulness. They were going to rummage through other cars and slowly make their way into the town to scan for other signs of life and survival.

After about thirty minutes of walking and stopping to loot cars, they had gotten a pretty good bit of supplies. They had found a car seat obviously for a baby that completely empty, but a bag was left next to it and it was filled with baby formula and diapers. "You never know," Ryan said, and Shawn grunted. Someone getting pregnant could be disastrous.

Shawn naturally led the group, walking a few paces ahead of them and giving them orders as well as taking out walkers ahead of the group, but Ryan was trying to change that. Ryan had never been anything but the leader since this began, and he wasn't going to change that now. He wasn't used to following, and he didn't like it, so he would constantly jog a little bit to catch up to Shawn, and any time Shawn got distracted by something or took too long or stopped to talk, Ryan would take his place leading the group farther down the highway.

Suddenly a loud rumbling could be heard quickly approaching as the were nearing an intersection on the highway. Ryan turned to the people behind him and whisper-yelled, "Hide!"

They all scattered. Robert and Greyson hid inside of a car they were searching, pressing themselves into the floorboard and pulling things on top of themselves, hiding in the cramped space. Patti ducked for the woods, finding a nice place behind a large rock. Ryan and Shawn were in a pretty open place, and they ran back towards where everyone else was. Shawn, being closer and much quicker, made it behind a tipped-over van. Ryan was running as fast as he could to get there as well, but the noise was only getting louder. It was clearly recognized to be motorcycles. Just as the leader of the biker gang made it onto the highway where the group was, Ryan made it behind the van just in time. Until he slipped and his foot skidded into view just as the leader of the biker gang turned onto the highway.

The leader was a very buff man with a black mohawk that was peppered with grey hair, and his face was neatly groomed into a perfect mustache. They obviously had a base.

He smiled to himself, noticing the tripping foot, and slowed to a stop, putting his hand up as his people followed in behind him, stopping as well. There was about twenty of them, all on their own bikes, looking menacing and tough, with scars and tattoos and beards and very large weapons. Everyone held their breath hearing the engines stop, getting their weapons ready, aside from Robert and Greyson, who could only place their hands on the general area of their weapons. They had made a bad call hiding there. "Eddy, Hunter," the leader said to the two men nearest him. One was very thin and was wearing a black helmet with matching leather suit, his entire appearance invisible. The other was a slightly larger man, wearing a similar helmet, but not the suit. He was wearing a leather jacket and had a large beer gut with grey hairs all over it. "Get ready. Eddy, the sniper." The man with the beer gut then stepped back to his bike and unloaded a large sniper rifle off of it, aiming it for where Ryan's foot was.

"Fuck," Ryan said as Shawn looked angrily at him.

"This is all your fault. Trying to act like a leader, but then you can't even run back to the group. On top of that, you go and trip like some kinda Mary."

Ryan narrowed his eyes at the younger man, growing furious. "How dare you," he said with a horrifying calmness. "You come to my home, attack my p-"

A loud string of bullets began attacking the van they were behind, and the two snapped to their senses, pressing themselves low on the ground against the van, their guns prepared. "I know you're back there," a voice said, halting the bullets. "Come out and we'll let you go. Stay back there and we'll have no choice but to open fire."

Ryan looked to Shawn, asking silently for advice. Shawn looked very conflicted. _Dad would raise his hands. Surrender. Maybe they're good people. Fuckin' scary, but it wouldn't be the first time another group has been misunderstood,_ he said, thinking of Xavier and Sierra and the shootout they had. _But Seth wouldn't. Selenis wouldn't. Xavier and Sierra wouldn't. There's too much risk in surrendering… But we have others! Patti, and Robert and Greyson. They'll back us up._ Shawn looked to Ryan and nodded his head. They would surrender, and if anything went wrong, they had secret allies. There couldn't be that many, could there?

Shawn and Ryan began to walk around the van, and the moment Shawn's arm was visible coming out from cover, it was shot at, and a bullet passed right through the side of it. He drew his arm back in agony, and the gunfire commenced. Shawn began shooting back, and the biker gang didn't let up, following their sniper Eddy's lead. Patti could see Ryan and Shawn from where she was, and Ryan was struggling to get himself bandaged. They had hurt her leader, and she wasn't going to forgive them. She drew her gun and began firing, killing three bikers and injuring two before they even realized where the shots were coming from. "Damn it, they took down James!" the leader yelled, as they began to shoot in both directions. Taking her off guard, a walker came up behind Patti as she fired at the gang. She heard it moaning, and turned around and took it down just as she realized more were coming. She had nowhere to run, so she ran for the car Robert and Greyson were hiding in. Thankfully, there was plenty of cover between her rock slightly in the woods and the car, and she made it in a place where she was sure walkers couldn't easily see her, but she know Shawn and Ryan were still in the open for the walkers, and there was very little luck for them to get to cover without further injury.

Out of the woods came a large mass of walkers, all drawn to the sound of gunfire. The thin man in leather, whose name was apparently Hunter, was the first to notice. "Darrell, we have to go," he yelled to the leader.

"Goddamn it," the leader screamed furiously, unleashing another string of rapid bullets from his machine gun to the general area everyone was hiding in. Behind him, his people collected what supplies they could from their fallen friends, loaded up their bikes, and headed out, back in the direction they were headed before they turned onto the highway. Darrell was the last to leave, as he fired a few final bullets at vulnerable spots in the cover he thought Patti was still behind.

When Patti was sure they were gone, she looked over to see the walkers were getting very close to Ryan, whose wound was now being tended to by Shawn, attempting to get him help before they ran. She shoved herself into the drivers seat of the car she was in, yelled to the back seat, "They're gone, we have to go! Get up, now!" and began trying to start the vehicle as Robert and Greyson pushed the blankets and other objects off of themselves, looking disheveled as they dragged themselves out of the cramped space, attempting to bring feeling back to limbs that had fallen asleep a short while ago. "Hurry and get those two fools!" Patti shouted.

Robert looked up and realized what was going on, seeing the herd coming and Ryan injured. He got out of the car, Greyson hurrying quickly behind, running to help Shawn and Ryan. Shawn and Robert helped Ryan to his feet as Greyson grabbed up what few of their dropped supplies he could before the herd got near, forced to leave some behind.

They made it into the car and drove it the only way they could: into town. They decided to hide out in a house in Salem far from the highway for a few hours until they were certain the herd had passed. "So, those guys," Greyson said, referring to the bikers. "You don't think they're from around here do you? Or that we might see them again? Have to run?"

"No," Patti said, being the one to speak up.

Ryan, trying to seem in charge, continued for her. "They were coming from the west, headed east. We were coming from the southeast headed northwest. Unless they're well-stocked for wandering bikers, their base is in one of those two directions. They don't live here, I don't think."

"I'd be surprised if they do," Patti added. "An' there's nothing to worry about," she said, looking to Robert and Shawn. "They didn't head towards our people. I think they're okay."

They loaded back up in the car an hour later, just to be sure, and they headed back south towards home. They found more supplies they had dropped because of the attack, including the baby bag. Father down, they found their original car and they took both vehicles back home with them.

* * *

><p>While all of this was happening, back at the house Amanda had finally found some peace and quiet. She had been waiting almost two weeks to finally make use of the stash she had found, but was always too occupied. This time, the group was doing just fine. All of the work and chores were done, and the kids were napping. It was time to relax. To finally light up and forget about her worries for the first time in since this started. For the first time in years. Even if it was just for a few moments, it would be worth it.<p>

She stuffed the green substance into her pocket along with her lighter and a piece of paper she stole from the kids' coloring book and made her way outside, claiming she was going to get fresh air when questioned by Shakira. She went to a spot she had found a few days ago when taking down a stray walker. It was a spot close to the lake, underneath a large yellow tulip tree, out of sight unless one were to be looking from in the lake or from a perfect angle in the woods. It was better when she first found it, but now leaves were beginning to fall, and the spot was more visible thanks to the thinning of cover. It was still the best spot she had found, though.

She sat down and pulled the paper out, followed by the weed. She rolled the paper up around the marijuana with ease, remembering the way to do it from ages ago. Once she decided it was just right, she pulled out her lighter, lit the loose end, and put the other in her mouth, inhaling deeply. "Ahhhhh," she breathed out happily. The familiar scent encapsulated her, and brought back fond memories of getting high with her friends. She began thinking of when things took a turn for the worse, and of Erin crying as Amanda lied on the ground, half-conscious, laughing about a hallucination. She took another hit.

"Amanda," a familiar voice said, startling the woman, and she quickly hid the joint behind her back. It was Beth, and she looked very disappointed. "I thought you were done with that," she said, her voice not masking her feelings of betrayal at all.

Amanda opened her mouth to respond, forgetting momentarily about the smoke in it. A cloud of stench rushed to Beth, and she coughed. Amanda sadly looked up as Beth, who now looked annoyed. "I'm sorry," she said. "It's just… I found it in a house we were going through a while back. This is all I have, it was only a one-time thing."

Beth half-frowned, looking down at the blonde. Amanda's roots were now showing a lot. At least an inch or two of brown had grown back. "Do you promise?" she asked.

"I do, Bethy. I'm sorry. I really am. I promise."

Beth nodded, awkwardly. Though she had just lectured Amanda on it, she badly wanted to try some herself. "Um," she muttered, then looked back to the house.

A smile crept across Amanda's face, but she did her best to hide it. _Teenagers,_ she thought. "You want a drag?"

"No," she said hesitantly and looked back down to Amanda, and then to her own hand. Maybe it could help with the pain. Losing a few fingers doesn't always make your hand feel that great, and right now it hurt quite a bit. Plus, she had always wanted to try weed.

"Go to Heaven for the climate, Hell for the company," Amanda said, holding out the weed.

Beth nodded hesitantly, and flashed a smile at the older woman when she was handed the joint. Beth sat down next to Amanda and did as she was told. To breathe in deep, and to hold it in for as long as she could. Predictably, Beth wasn't that great at it and coughed it up almost as soon as it went in, causing Amanda to laugh.

They continued to share it, and they sat there for a few moments, both feeling quite buzzed. Beth turned to Amanda, a dopey smile across her face. She inched closer, and Amanda took notice with an inquisitive visage. Then, Beth reached out for Amanda and kissed her, sloppily kissing with tongue. Amanda, though shocked, returned the kiss. It lasted for a little bit too long, and Amanda reached for Beth's hand but accidentally touched her injury, and they pulled away, and couldn't look at each other afterward. They remained there, silent. Their buzz began to wear off. "I'm sorry," Beth finally said.

"I," Amanda began. "Uh. It's okay. I'm sorry, too. Did I hurt you?"

"No. It's just that, well. That was my first kiss."

Amanda looked to the younger girl with faint surprise. "You kissed Jimmy, didn't you?"

"My first _actual_ kiss," she clarified. "With tongue."

"I see," Amanda stated. The mood was tense. "So, do you… Do you want me to be your girlfriend or something?"

Beth's eyes grew large, and she blushed. "Uh," she began, trying to carefully choose her words. "Not.. really. I was hopin' that would be just a one-time thing. I thought maybe, but I realized during it that I didn't like it. I'm sorry."

"No, don't be," Amanda said, half-laughing. "I'm glad, actually." There was a pause, and then Amanda realized how her words could be interpreted. "No, wait, I don't mean it like that. You're great and all, I just. Y'know. I'm straight. Plus, I'm more-" she stopped herself, shrugging it off.

"More what?"

"Nothing. I don't know."

"Yeah, you do," Beth said, and began poking at her ribs.

Amanda laughed at the tickling. "Alright, alright. I'm, um. I'm more into your brother."

Beth smiled. "Really?" Amanda put her face in her lap, feeling her face turn bright red. Beth giggled gleefully. "You two would be so cute together," she squealed.

Amanda looked to Beth, her face red as a tomato. "You think so?"

Beth laughed, holding her stomach with her injured hand. "Well, yeah."

"I don't know." Amanda began playing with this grass, unable to stop smiling and blushing. "I don't think he even likes me like that."

"Oh, come on. He doesn't even know _you_ like him like that, does he? You should talk to him sometime. When he comes back, maybe."

"Maybe."

They continued talking about Shawn, and then off about other things, such as the crops, and what could be taking the group that was on the run so long. Selenis found them a while later, and they held a meeting to decide whether or not to send out someone to search for them before the sun went down, but thankfully they arrived in the middle of the meeting. They let the group know that the town seemed to be worth it to check out, and that they should go within the next few days. Then, they shared the story of their encounter, and many of the group became worried. It reminded some of them of the group that attacked the farm, and they thought that the same thing could happen if they are found.


	21. Chapter 21: You'll See

**Chapter 21 "You'll See"**

**Day 89**

Today was a break day. The previous days had been about plowing and tilling the land. Researching winter crops. Searching for more nearby houses to loot. Securing the house they were in. More weapons training. Mentoring and tutoring. School. Today was Tuesday by the calendar Patricia had kept, but they felt they had worked hard enough to earn themselves another lazy day, which was usually on Saturdays.

It was about 10 A.M., much later than the group usually slept in, but the majority of the group was upstairs, fast asleep. Jessie, however, was awake, thanks to Ron. Ron was like a little alarm clock. He would always wake up right at 6 A.M., even though they usually let the kids sleep in as long as they wanted. Lizzie was awake, as well, unable to sleep, and Jessie decided to take the two outside to the lake to play. Jessie had brought a towel to lay on, and she read her favorite romance novel, _Sense and Sensibility_, letting the children play in the water on the warm autumn day.

Otis was on watch that morning, but since Jessie had come out with Lizzie, he entrusted them to keep an eye out and stay safe so that he could sleep. He mostly trusted Lizzie to be the one alert, as she was good with her gun and Jessie and Ron were afraid to use weapons of any kind.

The two children were in their bathing suits, playing happily, enjoying the last taste of summer they are likely to have for a long time. As they were playing, a walker came out of the woods, frightening Ron. The scared boy hid behind Lizzie and pointed at it past her. "It's one of _them_," he said, his voice shaking. "Shoot it!"

Lizzie looked to it and smiled. The walker was wearing a sunday dress, like her mom used to wear to church. "She just wants to play," Lizzie told Ron, who stared at her curiously. "Watch." Lizzie trudged out of the water and began jumping around the walker like an excited puppy. "Can't catch me," she said, running back towards Ron.

Ron began crying, and Jessie looked up over the top of her book as Lizzie ran into the water towards Ron. Jessie dropped her book and ran to them, thinking they were in trouble. "Shoot it, Lizzie!" she yelled.

At Jessie's words, Lizzie froze. "What?" she yelled, unable to hear what the mother had said.

"Shoot it!"

Lizzie turned around to see that the walker was catching up to them and she screamed playfully. "You almost got me!"

Ron sat down in the water, crying even harder. He was afraid, and this felt wrong.

Jessie made it into the water, her dress instantly soaking as she made her way to Ron and she picked him up. Jessie took the gun out of Lizzie's pocket and shot the walker.

Lizzie looked at the dead roamer, stunned. Sorrow swept across her face, and she felt around her pockets. She found her knife, and quickly turned around and stabbed Jessie in the leg, causing her to fall. "You killed her! You killed my friend! How could you?! What if I killed you? What if I killed you?! It's the same thing!"

Jessie had dropped Ron, who was now in the water, frozen, witnessing this horrifying thing. Lizzie, filled with rage, made another slash at Jessie. "Run, Ron!" The boy sat there in fear, soaking and upset.

Then, Lizzie made a fatal slash, slicing open Jessie's neck as she attempted to scream for Ron to run again but he remained frozen in fear as her yell became a sick, bloody gurgle. The teen turned to him, and time seemed to slow down. The life oozed out of Jessie, her blood mixing in with the water like food dye. "Do you wanna be one of them too?" Lizzie asked after a while. The boy was bawling, and could only fearfully stare back at the older girl. "No, shhh, don't cry. Don't worry. She'll come back. It only hurts for a second, and then you come right back. You'll see."

The boy looked up at her, his eyes filled with despair, and he looked down to his mother, bleeding out with a terrified expression on her face. "Mommy's okay?"

"Of course she is. I didn't hurt the brain. She's going to wake up in a little while, and you can both be the same if you want. Maybe I will be, too," Lizzie grinned, thinking to herself.

The boy's tears slowed, and he hesitantly nodded. "I wanna be like mommy."

She smiled, said "Okay," and slit into the boy's forearm. He began to bawl again, loudly and harshly, piercing both of their ears and making a flock of birds fly out of the nearby trees. As he fell over, Lizzie smiled. Soon he would see exactly what she meant. And then her dad would see, too. Her dad would finally see what she had been telling him all this time. In fact, she could show him personally. She smiled even wider at the thought. She looked down at the knife in her hand, and had a heavy urge to ram it into her neck. Then, Jessie began to rise from the water, and she bounced with joy. She began playing with Jessie, running around the lake and playing chase, waiting for Ron to 'wake up' as well. Finally, after a while, Ron awoke and they began to play together, too. "Guys, I have to go show you to my dad," she said, trying to get them to stop playing.

A while later, Lizzie still running gleefully around the lake from the undead family, Ryan walked outside for fresh air when he saw Lizzie being chased in the distance. He smiled, thinking that Jessie and Ron were alive and that they were playing chase. As he walked closer, however, he noticed that they were turned, shambling about unskillfully. "Lizzie!" he shouted, and she slipped, falling onto her face in shock. Her dad had taken her off guard. "Lizzie, get up and run!" he screamed. "This isn't a joke anymore, _get the fuck out of there!"_

Lizzie, still lying on the ground, pouted at her dad. "You just don't get it, do you? We're play-" then, Jessie ripped into her arm, tearing of muscle and revealing bone, holding down Lizzie. Jessie and Ron had gotten down to Lizzie's level when she wasn't paying attention, and they were now taking full advantage of it. Undead Ron followed his walker mother's lead, and ate right into Lizzie's other arm, and Ryan began to run around the lake to get to his baby girl, reaching desperately into his pockets to get his gun. Before he could get it out, though, Lizzie had reached the no-hope zone as Ron tore into the teen's shoulder blade. Lizzie was now unconscious and Ryan was in tears. He finally reached his gun when he took a moment to stop, still a ways from the three. He choked on the tears and snot, doing his best to remain composed. He raised his gun and shot Jessie and Ron down, and slowly, mournfully, walked to his daughter, now nothing more than a mass of wet redness, blood all over the grass and staining every fabric of her clothes, bones poking out every here and there. There was no hope. He raised his gun just as one of Lizzie's fingers began to twitch, as she was reanimating. He couldn't bare to see her like that, let alone like this.

The majority of the group rushed out, weapons ready, investigating the gunshots underdressed in just underwear or in pajamas or a robe. When they saw what had happened, Ryan on his knees crying at the sight, Beth went to Mika who was just coming out and she shielded her eyes, leading the child back inside. This, of all things, was something she didn't need to see. Ryan entered an hour later, and had apparently already buried the three without us knowing, as he was covered in dirt and mud and blood. "I'm not going on that run tomorrow," he said stoically and retreated to his bedroom.


	22. Chapter 22: Garden

**Chapter 22 "Garden"**

**Day 90; Group A**

The next day was a solemn one. There was very little joy, let alone even talking. Mika was distraught, confused why her dad was locking himself up and so sad, and wondering what had happened to Lizzie. She was no fool, and she knew that Lizzie had died. They would have told her something if she hadn't. Of course, it was very upsetting to think about, but it was so surreal. She didn't see Lizzie at all that day, and then to suddenly find that she had passed seemed like it wasn't happening.

Early that morning, Beth and Mika were sitting on the couch in the living room, and Beth was reading a story to the younger girl, hoping she would get some more sleep. Mika was wrapped around her right arm, looking on at the book sitting on Beth's lap, using her still-bandaged left hand to turn it. "And the princess looked to the kingdom, who shouted happily seeing her. 'I have returned,' she said to the masses, 'and I am here to stay. I vow' — that means promise," she said to Mika, "'to never leave again. And they lived happily ever after, the princess safely back home thanks to the bravery of her knights. The end.'" Beth closed the book and kissed Mika's head tenderly. "Still not tired?"

Mika shook her head at Beth, the smile she had from the book fading. They remained silent for a few moments as Beth held Mika close, her own eyes getting heavy as she cooed at the girl calmingly. "Beth, what happened to my dad?" Mika asked the older blonde girl, who had been with her all day. Beth knew what it was like to lose a sister, and she didn't want Mika to go through what she did.

"Well, he's just," she paused, considering. "He's had a really bad day, and he just wants to sleep." Beth was slightly horrified. There were so many similarities between herself and Mika and their fathers that she was just beginning to see.

"I know why he had a bad day. You don't have to keep hiding it from me."

"What?"

"Lizzie," she said, cuddling deeper into Beth's arms. "I know that she's.. gone."

Beth frowned at the innocent girl. "I know, cupcake. You're a smart girl. Your dad's just not taking it well. But we can't be mad at him for that. And you shouldn't feel guilty if you don't get upset as he is. Over anything. As long as you love and respect them, they'll know you miss them."

Mika smiled. "You know everything, Beth."

"No, I don't," Beth said, looking up to Ryan's room.

"Well, you know how to be nice. How do you know all of that?"

Beth met the girl's eyes. "My daddy always used to tell me, 'Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.' You just have to always do your best to be nice. You've heard 'if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all,' haven't you?"

Mika nodded. "That's what my mommy told me when I was little." She looked to the ground. "I miss Mommy. And Lizzie."

"I know, sweetie, I know. It's hard to lose people you love."

"Have you lost anyone?"

"I have. My mom, my daddy. My cousin. And my sister, too."

"Were you sad?"

"Every time. I think I was the saddest about my sister. I hated losing all of them, though. But she was just so.. selfish."

"Selfish? Did she not share?"

"No, no. Not like that. She uh," Beth said, beginning to regret talking about Maggie, "well, to be honest, she killed herself."

"Oh," Mika said, looking sadly to Beth, and she kissed Beth's cheek, who looked like she was about to cry. "It's okay."

"It is." Beth wiped a tear away and smiled to the young girl. "The scary thing is… I was thinkin' about doin' the same thing. When momma died, I wanted to do it, but Maggie and daddy were there for me. They didn't know how I felt, but they made me feel better. Then when daddy died, I was really considering it. Shawn thought I wanted to do it. He wasn't wrong, but I didn't let him know. He helped me. Then, a few days after Daddy died, Maggie did it. It made everyone so upset. Even me. I saw how much it hurt everyone, even those who didn't love her as much as some of us did. It helped me see how selfish I had been. I felt so stupid."

Mika sat there, taking it all in. She looked to Beth, seeing the strength in her. "But you're okay now. You're stronger, and smarter."

"That's right," the Greene said, smiling warmly with tears in her eyes to Mika. "I am."

* * *

><p>Hours later, after they both got some sleep on the couch together, it was time for everyone to start working. Because of Ryan's mourning, and it being so soon after a big loss in people, the group considered postponing the run, which was scheduled for this day, but Shawn took full advantage of Ryan being upset, and they headed out without him. He, Selenis, Robert, Greyson, Seth, and Daniel went early that morning in the RV that was in the best condition, which used to be Xavier's. They were waved off by Beth, Mika, Amanda, Gabriel, and Allan.<p>

A while after they left, Patricia and Beth were at the table in the dining room after breakfast drinking coffee and discussing keeping the group busy in order to help distract them from their losses. "Maybe we could play board games?" Beth asked.

"No, dear, I'm all board gamed out," Patricia half-smiled, sipping at her coffee.

Beth looked out the window and saw the land they had readied for farming. She smiled. "The garden. We could finally start on those winter plants."

"Now I think we've got something. Let's go see who wants to help."

The two finished their coffees and rose to ask others if they wanted to help. Mika happily volunteered. Lyrik agreed to do it because she'd be with some of her closest friends and she felt like she needed more things to do around the place. Ryan, as expected, turned them down, even though his daughter was going to be out there as well. His stance didn't change no matter how much Beth begged, and she didn't want Mika to have to see Ryan the way he was. Otis agreed to do it for his wife, even though he would rather be sleeping or reading. They asked everyone else, but only Allan wanted to do it. They either wanted to sleep more, said they were busy, or just didn't care.

Out in the garden, they had just made it through the first row of cabbage and were about to begin on the next when Otis ripped his glove pulling out weeds that had grown in, and there were still many to get. He stood back for a few moments, watching the others work. Beth was showing Mika how to garden. Allan and Lyrik were doing their best as Patricia struggled to watch over the both of them and make sure that they didn't mess up by planting seeds too close, or planting wrong seeds. Otis smiled at the site. "I'm gonna go look for a new pair of gloves," he said to Patricia, who hummed in return.

Not long after Otis left, some walkers came out from the trees. Allan scoffed as he got up, raising his gun to put them down. Then, more came. It was a herd. A massive one. As it got closer, it could be seen that they were coming from everywhere. All along the northern treeline, not a single place could be seen that a walker wasn't coming out of, and many were making it onto the road leading back to the highway, which was the only safe way out of the forest.

They panicked and began reaching for their supplies. The seeds, gloves, fertilizer; anything even moderately useful within their vicinity. Instead of heading for the house, Allan made a beeline for the remaining RV, causing everyone to follow. _Smart,_ Beth thought to herself as she followed behind everyone.

They loaded the RV with as much as they could and everyone except for Beth and Patricia piled in. Patricia was crying, and was beginning to get hysterical, screaming to go inside for Otis. Allan and Lyrik had to drag her inside the RV as Beth went to warn to the group, "Herd! _Get out!"_

A clattering was heard from inside, but when the herd got too close and no one came outside, they were forced to take off. Allan drove them south, down a dirt road they had cleared for just in case they needed to make an escape. "We can't just leave them!" Patricia screamed. "We can't leave Otis!"

"And what about my dad?" Mika asked, staring out the back window as the house faded into the distance.

Though they agreed that they shouldn't just leave them, they had no choice. If they had waited, the herd would have destroyed everything and killed all of them. All they can do is hope that everyone made it out. "I'd rather have sixteen die than twenty-one," Allan said, almost heartlessly.


	23. Chapter 23: Groceries

**Chapter 23 "Groceries"**

**Day 90; Group B**

Shawn drove down the road, headed towards Salem. They had just left the safety of the house to go look for more supplies. They weren't in desperate need for supplies, but the more they got the better. "It never hurts to stockpile," Ryan had said about the trip a while back. _He's the reason for this whole trip, and he ain't even here,_ Shawn angrily realized.

In the passenger seat was Seth, who was pretty much his best friend these days. In the back of the RV, Robert sat at the table with Selenis and Greyson, while Daniel was in the bathroom.

"I wish we had some more of that fish," Selenis said. "Made a terrific breakfast."

"Seriously," Robert replied. "Maybe we can find another lake somewhere that hasn't had dead people crawling all around in it."

"Doubt it," Shawn said from the front seat.

"Just be thankful we got any meat at all," Seth added. Everyone nodded their heads, slightly upset that would likely be their last meal of protein for a long time, and they remained silent for a few moments, thinking to themselves.

"I'm so tired," Greyson said after a while, putting his head down on the table.

"Well, then why'd you come?" Robert questioned.

"Because I promised Ryan I would."

"Well, he promised _he_ would come. You don't always have to do what he says, you know."

"He's my leader."

"Not anymore."

Greyson raised his head slightly to meet Robert's eyes. "He's still my leader, Robert. Shawn may be yours, but Ryan is mine."

Robert began laughing. "So, Ryan's yours? _All yours?"_

Selenis burst into a laugh as well, and a smile crept across Seth and Shawn's faces, who were listening in. Greyson's eyes widened, slightly embarrassed. "You know what I meant, you weirdo."

"Hey, I'm not judging you here," Robert stated, putting his hands up, smiling widely. Greyson couldn't take his eyes off of Robert's smile. Big and goofy, happy and warm. _Stop,_ he thought, forcing himself to look out the window before Robert spoke again. "If you're into Ryan, that's cool," Robert continued and paused to admire Greyson. From the side, with the morning sun shining on his face from the light outside, he looked like a gorgeous painting. Like something he had only dreamed up. Absolutely gorgeous. "Just don't get too attached. 'Cause I want me some lovin', too," Robert cooed, pulling himself closer to the boy across the table and puckering up his lips, and the freckled boy began to blush and feigned annoyance, keeping his eyes focused on outside the window as he made a frustrated face. He did a good job, though, because everyone truly believed that he was annoyed and upset, only Robert really noticing the blush.

Selenis nudged Robert's shoulder, signalling him to stop. Shawn wanted badly to speak up, but though it would be funny, it would only make Greyson feel more uncomfortable, so he decided to simply smile and keep it to himself. Daniel exited the restroom and was going to sit down at the table with everyone else until he saw Robert making kissy-faces to Greyson. He stopped himself and acted like he needed something from his bag, subtly using an excuse to retreat to the bedroom in the back.

Robert noticed. He winked to Selenis, who smiled and began talking to Greyson, causing him to finally pull his eyes from outside of the window. When Robert felt that they had a strong conversation going, he pretended as though he had to use the bathroom and went to the bedroom, where he saw Daniel lying face-down on the bed. Robert closed the door, which caused Daniel to jolt upright at the noise. When he saw it was the younger boy, he rolled his eyes and grunted, "No."

"Shut up," Robert said defiantly, crossing his arms. "You need to pull yourself together if you want to stay in the closet."

"Who said I wanted to?" Daniel said into the pillow.

"_You_ did, you asshole!" Robert yelled. "That's the whole reason we're not together."

Daniel turned himself over, a harsh face of rage as he put a finger to his lips, telling Robert to be quiet, causing the teen to roll his eyes. "That's not true," Daniel said. "The whole reason we're not together is because you can't respect my decisions."

"Because your decisions are _stupid!_" Robert said, getting extremely angry. "You're doing this because you think it makes you look weak. Because you think it _is_ weak. No one around here judges me for being gay! _No one!_ According to not only Selenis, but also Shawn, Seth, Patricia, Beth, Sierra, Xavier, and just about anybody, _I am a valued member of this group._ Sure, we may meet people who will judge me, but the people around us _aren't like that."_

"Ryan is," Daniel said.

"Ryan's _not here._ What is it with you and Greyson? Why do you two need his approval so much? Need to always be his right-hand-man?"

"He's a good leader, that's why. He's done his best to keep us together, keep us strong. You have no idea about the things he's done for us."

"Well, our old leader Hershel did great things for us, but he understood if you wanted to change your mind about going on a run. If you didn't want to be around a certain person for any reason. If you were _gay!"_

"Robert, this isn't about Ryan. This is about us."

"Right. Let's talk about _us_, then. If you won't come out, then this won't work. It's hard enough to not breathe in another person's breath, how cramped and crowded we all are, but you expect you and I to be able to just run off and be in love? To not openly show how much we care for each other unless it's in the middle of the woods at three in the morning? No, Dan. That's not what's going to happen here. This life is too damn short for me to only get appreciation and love in the dark. So make your choice. Right now. Come out to everyone, or move on."

Moments later, Robert exited the bedroom and headed straight for the bathroom. He looked in the mirror and splashed water onto his face. _Get yourself together. _He was doing his best to hold back tears and rage. He was furious and sad. When he finally thought he looked better, he peed, flushed the toilet, and left the bathroom as if he had been in there the whole time.

Greyson's head was on the table again. Apparently, he and Selenis's conversation had ended, and he was getting some much-needed sleep. He sat down back where he was, right next to Selenis. "So?" she asked.

"No," Robert said quietly, looking down at the table until his eyes met Greyson's hands, gently wrapped around his head. "He said no."

* * *

><p>They had a fairly successful, uneventful run. They found much less than they expected in the grocery store, the only thing close to food being more seeds, candy, sodas, and a large array of rotten foods. "No groceries to bring home to mama," Shawn commented. There were a few bottles of medicine and firestarters. They got luckiest, though, when they found an abandoned tanker that was transporting fuel crashed head-first into a house. The entirety of the vehicle seemed to be fine, so it was quite likely that the fuel had burned up or exploded. Though it was a bit confusing to figure out how the tanker expelled fuel at first, they siphoned out all that they could, putting most into the RV, and everything else fit into five red jugs.<p>

They headed on their way back home after nearly three hours of scavenging. This time, Robert was driving while everyone else sat at the table.

"That tanker, though, man," Seth said.

"I know," Shawn said. "Who ever crashed that was a dumbass."

"But also a blessing," Selenis added.

"Well, not for the driver," Daniel smiled, trying to make a joke. "It's just a blessing that none of it was taken."

"You don't think we stole that, do you?" Seth questioned. "Like, the dude that crashed it was still alive and gonna come back for it?"

"That's not our problem," Shawn said.

"It could be, Shawn. You of all people should remember what happened the last time one of us unknowingly stole from someone," the buff man said, reminding Shawn of how they lost the farm.

The Greene boy frowned and shook his head. "Well," he grinned, "we're prepared this time. They want to get revenge, _let 'em."_

Seth rolled his eyes. "You're going to be the death of us."

The RV suddenly halted to a stop, taking everyone off guard. "What are you doing?!" Daniel yelled.

"Shut up!" Robert whisper-yelled. "If you would look first, you'd see what I see," Robert said, pointing to a herd of walkers visible through the windshield.

"Wait, that's not," Seth said, his voice trailing as he realized where it was going.

"It's headed towards the house," Selenis whispered, sounding horrified.

"It hasn't noticed us," Shawn said. "Keep going. Just drive slowly and they won't notice we're moving. They'll probably just think they're not walking or something."

"Excuse me?!" Robert exclaimed. "They're dumb, but I'm not suicidal."

"Exactly," Selenis added. "We don't know if that would work. And if it doesn't, we couldn't turn around without being buried in the herd. Road's too narrow."

"Well, what do we do?" Greyson asked.

"We leave," Robert replied.

"Okay, we need to be safe, but I'm _not_ abandoning those people," Seth said, annoyed.

"Yeah, my sister's in there!" Shawn exclaimed.

"I'm not abandoning them either. We're going to slowly back out of here before the walkers notice us, wait it out, and when it clears we'll come back. Help any survivors. If there's none, then someone had to have made it out. We'll search. Follow any tracks we find. We're not leaving them, no matter what."

Shawn looked to Robert, slightly stunned. "You know I'm the leader, right?"

"I sure as hell didn't vote for you," Robert said, throwing the RV into reverse. Selenis, Greyson, and Seth smiled at this. Robert's idea wasn't bad, and Shawn needed to be put in his place. Yet again. They made it out of sight of the herd before Robert made a U-turn and went back to the old house, where they would lay low and wait out the herd.


	24. Chapter 24: Gone

**Chapter 24 "Gone"**

**Day 90; Group C**

Everyone in the house was enjoying sleeping in. Yesterday was stressful, and today they were going to rest. In many cases, to mourn. Ryan was completely torn up over the loss of Lizzie. So torn up, in fact, that he unintentionally completely disregarded Mika since the incident, shutting himself in his room, blocking out all reminders of Lizzie. He knows Mika's still alive, and that he should be thankful for it. He knew Lizzie wasn't all there, but he didn't expect it to be like this. He thought he could keep her safe forever — that he could protect her from herself. What upset him most was that he couldn't seem to blame anyone but himself. He wanted to blame those newcomers. He wanted to push the blame on them so, so badly. But he couldn't. They were innocent. They didn't know Lizzie needed special care. He didn't want them to before this happened, either. And that's all his fault. Even if it were at all their fault, he was the one who brought them here. He was the one who uprooted them forcefully and greedily from their place. This wasn't Jessie's fault. It wasn't Ron's. It wasn't anyone's but his. He knew that now.

Everyone around the house was asleep, other than Beth and Mika who were in the living room, Ryan who was with his thoughts, and Oscar and Shakira, who were lying in the room they shared with a fast-asleep Gabriel, whispering to one another. They did this often, as they were usually unable to sleep. They would talk to each other until one of them fell asleep. They were both very quiet people, and they had a lot in common. It became a comfort, and it helped them deal with the things they've had to witness and experience.

"Don't even get me started. I'm Mexican, but I can't _stand _Mexican food," Oscar whispered.

"Really? How does that happen?"

"I don't know. My mom cried when I first turned down her menudo," he shared, causing Shakira to smile. "I was never much of a Mexican food kind of guy. I've always preferred Italian."

Shakira laughed before quickly covering her mouth as to not wake up Gabriel. "Well, whether you do or not, I love me some tapas and mojitos."

Oscar made a joking gag, sticking out his tongue. "Sign me up for pizza limoncellos."

"Isn't Ryan Italian?" Shakira asked, suddenly reminded of the large man.

"Hell if I know," Oscar shrugged. They paused for a moment. "Do you think he'll be okay?"

"I think he'll be fine," Shakira whispered.

"Eventually."

"Well, yeah. He's not just going to wake up tomorrow and be over it."

"I know I couldn't."

"I know I didn't," Shakira said, remembering when her little brothers died. Oscar grew quiet, and they remained silent for a while.

"I'm sorry," Oscar finally said.

Accepting the apology, but not that concerned about it, Shakira realized something. This whole time they'd been together, though all of this, Oscar had never told her what had happened to him. He'd shared everything with her. His first crush, first kiss, dream job, favorite things, places he wanted to go, even girls he found attractive. But he had never spoke a word about what happened to him. To his family and friends. She turned onto her side to look at Oscar, who remained looking at the ceiling, and she spoke in Spanish. "I've told you what happened to me. How one of my brothers turned, and he killed his twin. How my parents were so upset about it that they just shut down. You saw them in Lubbock. They were wretched messes, and they wouldn't leave with us. When we went back, they were there, wandering around the same place we last saw them. I bet they just threw themselves at the walkers. I told you everything about them. How much I loved and missed them, and how much they meant to me. How this all changed them. But you have not told me a single thing about what happened to you. You showed up at the refugee center basically in rags, covered in blood and dirt. They thought you were a walker at first. What happened?" Oscar didn't say anything, keeping his focus on the ceiling. He turned away from Shakira just in time so that a tear could escape his eyes without her noticing. "Why won't you tell me? We've shared so much."

Oscar's crying only intensified, and soon he was struggling to hide how his body was quivering with sadness. "Good night," he said, pulling his blanket up over his head.

Shakira sighed, unaware of his sobbing, and closed her eyes, turning away from Oscar. "Good night," she echoed.

Later that day, they were going to have a small breakfast before the scavengers left to go clear out Salem. Kelly and Patti were the two in charge of cooking it. "So what you thinkin'?" Patti asked the purple-haired girl.

"How cute Xavier is," Kelly said airily, a big smile on her face as she focused on her chipping red nail polish.

Patti gave the girl a questioning look and laughed. "Honey. I'm talkin' 'bout the food. What are we gonna make?"

"Oh," she said, straightening her stance, "right. Uh, well, we still have some fish left from before the lake got all contaminated. Why not make that? They could definitely use that ot on the road.

Patti nodded her head. "We got some cabbage and carrots, too. Could make a salad to go with it."

Kelly nodded, and they began preparing the fish. Things were getting too quiet as they were descaling the fish, so Kelly decided to talk about the things that's been on her mind most these days: boys. "So, which of the new guys do you think are the cutest?"

"Oh, I don't know," Patti bit her lip.

"I know that face. You always do that when you're lying."

"What?" Patti asked, suddenly aware of what she was doing.

"You bite your lip when you lie. You did that when Ryan asked if you thought we should leave West Little Rock."

"Can you blame me? We all knew that was gonna be a big mistake. Lost Rex, Dante, and Harry 'cause of that fool makin' us leave."

"I know," Kelly said. "But we met Greyson, Daniel, and Amber because of him, too. Lost Amber, but she wasn't much help anyways."

"Don't talk like that!" Patti said, slicing deep into the fish in annoyance. "Every person we lost was important. Do _not_ talk ill about them."

"Okay, I'm sorry," Kelly whimpered, carrying on with her own fish. After a very tense pause, she continued, trying to continue to justify Ryan's decisions. "We also met these new people because of him. Without these people, we'd be in real bad shape. That Patricia is a smart old lady."

"That she is," Patti said. "The people we met is probably the only good thing that came out of all of Ryan's crap, though. We had it good there."

"Yeah, but we couldn't just let him take off with his two girls alone. He was leaving, and there was no stopping that."

"I know. Don't stop me from missing havin' my own home, though. A warm bed, in a bedroom all my own. Miss the people we left, too. Boyd and Kevin. Laura, Elizabeth, Tavis..."

Thinking of the people they had left behind, Kelly thought back to Roger. She missed him immensely. She thought of the fond memories of them together, when they first made love. Then, she remembered the day she left with Ryan. The only reason she left was because she and Roger were fighting. If she had simply thought with clarity, she would have never left. She and Roger would have made up, and she'd still be happy. Truly happy. When Patti spoke Tavis's name, though, she was snapped out of her thoughts and pushed back into the present. Roger was over. That was in the past. The purple-haired girl recalled Tavis. His big brown eyes, his toned muscles, his luscious dark skin. "Ooh, Tavis was cute, too."

"Those big ol' muscles? Fine as hell."

Kelly burst out laughing. "Finally! I got it out of you." Patti rolled her eyes, smiling from ear to ear. "So who else is cute?"

"Alright, I'll play. Seth's gorgeous. Xavier and Shawn aren't too bad, either."

"Xavier's mine, girl. But you can take one of those other two."

"Maybe not Shawn. That Amanda girl's got her eye on him."

"Well, Seth sure look like he needs a lay. Big, strong man like that's bound to need some assistance."

"I bet. But I don't think he'd want me, of all people. So many pretty little mannequins runnin' around here."

"Don't talk like that," Kelly said, feeling guilty for having pushed this out of her, as she now understood. "Why don't you ask him?" Kelly smiled to her.

Patti half-smiled back. "Maybe I will."

"Right after breakfast."

"No. After he gets back from the run."

"Deal."

Hours later, Ryan was sitting on the back porch, staring coldly at the place where his daughter died. This was the first time he had left his room, which gave everyone hope, but he had simply gotten leftover salad and sat on the lawn chair, not speaking a word to anyone. He exited a while after being asked by Beth whether or not he had wanted to garden. The back porch was on the opposite side of the house as the garden, so he wouldn't have to be seen by Mika. The last thing he wanted was for her to ask anyone more questions about why daddy wouldn't talk to her.

Otis passed him, who took a step back, slightly puzzled. He then said something about gloves and went inside. Ryan wasn't really listening. He came back into focus when a yell was heard coming from inside and Otis ran to the back for him. "Ryan, we have to go, somebody just yelled that a herd's coming." Upstairs, everyone was packing what they could, panicking and running about the place. Ryan was only staring at Otis, unable to process what he had just said. Frustrated and running out of time, Otis slapped Ryan, who fell out of his seat at the sudden jolt. "We don't have time for this!" Otis grabbed Ryan's arm and dragged him inside to get their things. Ryan snapped into it and unleashed himself from Otis and ran upstairs. Otis ran outside the front door, cursing Ryan for taking up his time, and he made it to the doorway, met with a herd of walkers just a few meters away and an absence of people and the RV. He cursed under his breath, slammed the door shut, and ran back upstairs, grabbing the suitcase he had pre-packed, along with his wife's and Beth's. Ryan, Amanda, Shakira, Xavier, Gabriel, Kelly, and Sierra came out of their rooms, and Otis motioned for them to follow him. As they ran down the stairs, Kelly yelled back to the people still in their rooms to hurry up.

Patti was in her room, grabbing Greyson and Daniel's belongings, who she shared a room with, trying to shove as much as she could into her backpack. Oscar was in the room he shared with Shakira and Gabriel struggling to get dressed, his belongings at the ready. When he finally got his pants buttoned up well enough, carrying his belt in hand, he found Patti. "Hurry!" he yelled, following behind the others, who were halfway to the cars parked outside of the house down the road. Patti made it out, feet behind Oscar, struggling to catch up. Just as she made it outside of the house, a walker grabbed at her foot and made her fall down. She turned around and shot the walker in the head, and attempted to get herself back to her feet, but at this point, she was surrounded. The herd was too thick and too quick. She kept shooting at the walkers closing in on her and missed a few times, hitting one only in the chest, and missing another completely. Oscar had turned around, pulling his knife out of its holster as the gun was buried in his bag. He took down a single walker, but before he could pull the knife back out of the walker's head, the walkers had completely surrounded the woman. Her screams could be heard from inside of the pack of walkers on her, and Oscar's only choice was to turn around. He sighed and took off running back to the house. At least she would slow the herd down. For that, he was thankful.

At the house down the road, they had began siphoning all of the gas out of the smaller, dustier vehicles in favor of putting it into the two vans; one black, the other blue. Just as they got all of the gas out of the useless cars, Oscar had made it to them, out of breath. "Patti didn't make it. We have to go now."

"Wait, what?!" Kelly yelled, running with a can of gas to the black van.

"You heard me," Oscar said, throwing his stuff into the back of the blue van and beginning to put his belt on. "Where's everyone else?" he asked, noticing they were missing a few people.

"Gone," Otis said, speaking between heavy breaths. "Patricia, Beth," breath, "Mika, Allan, and Lyrik," breath. "Were out gardening," breath. "Took the RV. Don't know how many made it. Have to catch up to them."

"That was the most I've ever heard you say, Oscar," Ryan commented as he climbed into the driver's seat of the blue van.

They took off in the vans, forced to abandon the gas they didn't have time to put in. As they started up, they realized they were much lower on fuel than expected. They weren't going to get far with this little gas. _The secret to getting ahead is getting started, _Ryan thought, assuring himself that they would make it through this.


	25. Chapter 25: Run

**Chapter 25 "Run"**

**Days 90 & 91; Group A**

The gardeners had drove for a long time, far away from the house and the herd, driving directly south. "We must be twenty miles away, Allan!" Patricia complained "We passed Bunker like an hour ago."

"Patricia's right," Beth chimed in. "We need to turn around."

"Turn around?" Allan mocked. "There's no chance in hell we're turning around. We gotta run."

"Run? We don't have to keep going. Can we stop?" Beth asked, very annoyed. "We're in the clear. The others could be following us, and if we keep going, they might never find us."

Allan sighed. He knew she was right. He kept driving for a while until they made it to a small log cabin. He slowed and pulled up in front of it. "We can wait here, then. Few days, maybe."

"A few days?" Mika said, sounding sad and scared. She hadn't stayed anywhere but the house they had just been ran out of for months, and she hated clearing out houses. A lot of people she was with had died clearing out houses, such as Amber and Rex and Dante. "Can't we just stay in the RV?"

Allan frowned. He knew what Mika was afraid of, vividly remembering his friends dying to walkers because of having to clear out houses. If something like that happened here, it would be devastating. There was only five of them, and besides himself, none of the others were exactly the types of people he'd have clear a house. "I'm not sure about that, Mika. What do you guys say?"

"There's pros and cons on both sides," Lyrik said, running both options through her mind. "If we stay in the RV, we won't be outside risking our lives and if something happens we could easily just take off. We'd be easily spotted, though. If someone — or the walkers — are strong or angry enough, they could easily tip us over and we'd be dead."

"If we took the house, though, we'd have to clear it," Allan began. "It could be holding a number of things. Walkers, traps, and even other people. But if we all make it, it'd be great. Warm, and probably safe. We'd have more space and support."

"How about we vote?" Beth suggested. "All who want to clear the house, raise your hand." Allan and Lyrik raised their hands. "All opposed." Mika, Beth, and Patricia raised their hands.

Allan shrugged and drove farther down the road until he found a place surrounded thinly by trees, not too far off the road and they parked there, where they stayed for the night.

On Day 91, Mika woke up early in the morning, screaming from an awful nightmare, waking up Beth and Lyrik, who were on either side of her in the bed. Patricia was up front sleeping on the couch, while Allan slept on the floor beside her.

"Mika, shhh," Beth whispered. "It's okay, you're okay. I'm here, you're okay."

Beth wrapped her arms around the girl, who was sobbing into her chest. "Now I really wish we had some coffee," Lyrik joked, but Beth flashed her an warning face. She raised her hands and rolled over in response, hoping to be able to get some more sleep.

"Mommy, I had a really bad dream," the girl said, surprising Beth.

"Mika, I'm… I'm not your mommy." Mika pulled back from Beth, her face full of fear.

"I-it wasn't a dream…" Mika said, saying it like a question.

"I'm sorry," Beth said, pulling her back into her arms. "I know, cupcake. It's hard. But we'll make it. I'm here for you. No matter what, I'm here for you."

"You promise?" Mika asked, a muffled sob.

"I promise."

Later that day, Allan had done a sweep around the area they were in, checking their surroundings in the morning light. He had found another, smaller house to the south and a river about a mile west. Patricia and Lyrik went down to the river that afternoon to get water to boil on the fire, having finished off the remaining water from their watering cans. They were both armed with a machete and a gun.

"Mika's not okay," Lyrik said after they both made sure there were no walkers around and they were bent over at the river.

"Well, can you expect her to be? She's ten years old, just lost her sister, and for all she knows her dad is dead, too. The only one of us she really knows that well is Allan, and she doesn't seem that close with him."

"She's got Beth," the black girl shrugged.

"Yeah," Patricia said, putting down a water bottle and picking up another. "She does. I think if Beth wasn't here, that little girl would be lost."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I mean she'd be a goner. Shut down completely. I don't know if she'd really think about it, but she might even kill herself if she felt bad enough."

Lyrik nodded her head grimly, switching out bottles. "So do you think anybody made it out of there?"

The old woman sighed as she put a cap on her last water bottle. "For our sake, I hope so." She looked to the sunset, thinking about Otis. "Realistically, probably not."


	26. Chapter 26: Wait

**Chapter 26 "Wait"**

**Days 90 & 91; Group B**

Robert drove the RV around through Bunker and back to the house they originally settled in when they came to the national forest. The metal fence surrounding the property was now very rusted, brown and red. The crops in the back had wilted, and the house seemed cold and empty.

"So this is where you guys stayed?" Greyson asked, an eyebrow raised at how bad the place looked.

"Used to look better," Shawn told the teen. "Looked more homely. Felt less empty."

"Not by much, though," Daniel said, recalling when he, Ryan, and Patti brought took them from this place.

Shawn scoffed, annoyed. "I'm gonna go outside for a bit," he said as if he were going to urinate. Everyone knew what he really was going to do, though, as he slipped out the sliding glass doors.

He stood over the graves of Maggie and Hershel. "I miss you guys. More than you know. I really wish you were here now. You weren't supposed to die. You didn't have to. If it wasn't for that Spanish bitch, you'd both still be here. I'm sorry I didn't do more. That I didn't hunt her down and avenge you, Dad. That I didn't do more to let you know how much I loved you, Maggie. And now, Beth might be dead, too. If she is, I don't think I can take it. I don't think I can bear to know that I'm that last standing Greene. I wouldn't kill myself, but I just," Shawn began crying, thinking about being alone. About losing everyone he's loved before this. "I don't know if I could function without you all. And Patricia and Otis. I know I wanted to be leader, but I don't think I can do it. Not alone. Not like this. I'm sorry, Daddy, but I don't think I can be the man you wanted me to be. Not anymore."

* * *

><p>Hours later, Daniel, Selenis, Seth, and Greyson were in the dining room, waiting on Shawn and Robert to finish preparing their meal for the day. They only had enough food for two days if they had a single meal per day.<p>

"I hope my friends are okay," Greyson said.

"Aren't _we _your friends?" Seth asked, trying to make light of the situation.

"You know what I mean. I'm talking about my group."

"Ryan, Patti, and Allan," Daniel listed off. "If any of them are alive, it's those three."

Seth shrugged. Greyson was obviously distraught mostly about his own people, and Seth couldn't blame him for that. Their two groups had been a bit hostile since they had united, and Greyson didn't socialize very much with anyone in their group other than Robert, and that wasn't what Seth would call 'socializing,' on Greyson's part at least. Daniel didn't seem to like anybody. He and Allan were very distant people.

"I don't know about that," Selenis replied to the Daniel. "But I understand. I feel the same way about my people. Gabriel's the only one I really expect to have made it, and even he's probably not that likely. He's the strongest and smartest, but he's definitely the slowest."

Seth half-frowned. "The only person left from 'my group' is Amanda, and she and I kind of hate each other. I'm sure if some of them made it, she's with them. Stronger than she looks. And acts." As everyone seemed to do these days, they grew quiet, but not for long. "Actually," Seth corrected, "I don't think that's fair to say. About 'my group,' I mean. I met Hershel and his people pretty much at the start of this whole mess, and they mean as much to me as anybody else. I'm not sure who would be strong enough to make it though. I mean, fuck, I thought Robert was pretty weak, but did you hear the way he talked to Shawn? Boy's got some guts hidden away. So who knows who made it. Beth and Lyrik, who I thought were goners from day one, are likely still standing."

They both nodded their heads, and Greyson once again found himself thinking about Robert. Seth had a point about how strong he was, and it both concerned him and made him feel better. Flattered, even. It made him realize how weak he was by comparison. All this time, he had never really done much of anything besides take orders. First from Daniel, and then from Ryan. The most brave thing he ever did was kill the five walkers that devoured Amber, and that was only because he was blind with rage and depression. But it comforted him knowing that he was with such strong people. That he would be so safe with such capable friends. He was flattered that a person like Robert wanted him, on top of it. That Robert could lead and protect people, and yet he still wanted to be with someone as weak as he was. Was it just for his appearance? Did Robert only flirt with him because he thought he was cute? Or did Robert truly like him? His reverie was halted as Daniel and Robert walked out carrying plates of candy from the run and stale beef jerky and vegetables they had loaded up in the RV for the mission, with sodas on the side. "Sort of like a child's dream feast," Robert said, laying plates in front of Selenis and Greyson. "Kinda. A little bit."

"Not at all," Seth jokingly finished, bringing a smile to a few faces.

* * *

><p>The next night, on Day 91, everyone was sitting in the living room by the fireplace. They were silent, having just eaten what little food they had left. Their focus was on the fire, clinging to the warmth in the cold autumn evening.<p>

Seth walked in shivering, letting in a chill as the door opened, and he quickly closed it behind him and settled in next to the fire, wrapping himself deeper into his grey hoodie he had brought for the scavenging trip. "I think we're gonna have to stay here a while longer. That herd's too big. It's starting to thin out now, but I'm not gonna go back there in the middle of the night. We have to wait. It's still headed south, so first thing tomorrow morning, we head to the house. Check for survivors. Get any supplies left behind at the least."

Some of them nodded and they all understood. If anyone was still in there, they might leave before they got there, but it was too cold and too much of a risk to go out there now. They all snuggled up together under some thin blankets they found upstairs to get some sleep, their stomachs growling and their minds filled with worry; wind blowing heavily against the house, which was blowing in lightly through cracks in the house, causing a high-pitch whistling sound. Shawn sadly rose from his spot on the couch for his shift of lookout duty. It was going to be a long, cold night.


	27. Chapter 27: Hide

**Chapter 27 "Hide"**

**Days 90 & 91; Group C**

The group drove as far as they could down the dirt road, which winded long and far through the woods. The downside of that was that the road quite often forked into dead ends, where trees had grown into the dirt road, making it impossible to keep driving through, or the road simply ended or led to a house, which was not what they needed. What they needed was to escape. To find an actual road and get as far away from the house as quickly as possible. They didn't know where the herd was, exactly how massive it was, or even if it had changed directions. "Finding a house and staying there," Ryan had said about it, "would be the dumbest thing we can do. We have to keep moving or the herd will catch up and kill us all."

They were finally on a good path that hadn't lied to them yet. They had been driving without having to stop for about thirty whole minutes now, which was pretty much a record. Then, just as their luck would dictate, the gas ran out. Ryan, the driver of the leading blue van, groaned as his van sputtered to a stop. He got out and slammed the door in rage, opening the back to get everyone's packs out of the back as they all followed him out of their seats.

"We're on foot now," he stated.

"At least now we can keep headed straight for the highway if we hit another dead end," Sierra said, pointing out the upside to this.

They kept walking for the rest of the day, stopping occasionally when their feet began to hurt, when some walkers needed to be taken care of, or when they needed to stop at a stream for water.

Ryan checked his watch, and found that it was 10:21 P.M. He sighed, knowing they had no choice but to stop. They couldn't carry on like this, but stopping was dangerous. They would be sleeping in the middle of the woods in the middle of the night after having just escaped a herd that may very well still be following them. He froze in place, sighing as the others caught up to him. _Apparently there's nothing that can't happen today._ "We have to stop," he finally said.

"Do we, though?" Otis asked.

"We might find a place to stay if we keep going," Xavier said. "We don't have to sleep in the middle of the woods."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Keep going?" he asked. "You fucks keep stopping and slowing us all down. Getting tired after only thirty minutes of walking," he glared at Otis, Shakira, Amanda, and Gabriel. "We can't keep stopping. We're faster than walkers, but not if we keep taking thirty minute breaks."

"So your solution is to make us stop for three or more hours, instead?" Xavier questioned.

"No, it's to get you people some actual rest while the big dogs keep watch. Me, you," referring to Xavier, "Sierra, and Kelly will take turns while you others get the sleep you so obviously need. We can also boil some of the water we got back there."

Not wanting to continue the argument and waste more time, they began to set up camp, pulling out the four tents they had in the packs for the night. Shakira and Oscar decided to take one, Otis and Gabriel took another, Kelly and Xavier were given one together, and Sierra and Amanda were left with the last one.

"Let's let the lovebirds have a little bit of luck tonight," Sierra had said about Kelly and Xavier sleeping together.

"Wait, what?" Xavier asked.

"Is it that obvious?" Kelly whispered to Xavier.

Those around her, including Xavier, laughed as she stood there looking confused. "Obvious?!" Gabriel laughed.

"You two never take your eyes _off_ of each other," Amanda giggled.

"Kelly, you practically announce to everyone you're alone with for more than three minutes how much you like that crazy-haired mess," Sierra smiled, pointing to Xavier's brown hair that had grown long and wild since this all began.

Xavier and Kelly were blushing profusely, unable to look each other in the eyes as they entered their tent, earning "Ooh"s from a few people.

Ryan was the first one on watch, circling the camp with a sniper rifle in his arms and his favorite machete in its holster, his shirt tucked behind it for easy access.

It was a slow, dark, quiet night. It was getting colder, and that was easy to tell. He knew that it was only going to get colder, as well. Maybe even quicker than he thought. He shivered and stood closer by the bright fire, illuminating much of the camp very well. Strangely, he had seen very few walkers throughout the night. _Maybe they're all up in that herd, _he considered.

As things grew quiet and lonely, he was left with only his thoughts as he kept a watchful eye on the woods. He remembered his daughters. He thought about Lizzie. How he had only lost her just recently, and was forced out of mourning. He remembered the shots he took that put down she, Jessie, and Ron. _Did those shots bring in the herd?_ he wondered. _I think they must have. They were on a direct collision course for our place, and this all only happened yesterday._ He then realized that he had no idea where Mika was; if she was safe, who she was with, or anything. His heart began racing as he considered the things that could be going on with her, and he felt like he was about to cry. He had purposely let her leave him, he realized. He pushed himself away from her because he thought he needed time, but because of that, he may have lost her forever.

Snapping him out of his thoughts, a few noises could be heard coming from the south. He knew it wasn't the herd, so he sneaked towards it as quietly as he could, his gun held up at the ready.

Then, a walker came out of the bushes, a young teenage girl with short black hair and glasses. He grabbed his black machete and waited for it to come closer, but it hesitated, which struck Ryan as odd. It opened its mouth, and Ryan swung his machete down on the young walker's head, and before he could stop the swing, it yelled, "Please!"

He didn't register that the girl was actually alive. His eyes were wide, his hands still on the machete now plunged deep into the girls skull. Her eyes looked sad and desperate. He took a step back as her body fell over, the machete still encumbered in her head, and he put his hand over his mouth in shock and regret as he stared down at the teen. She had to be about fourteen years old, not far from Lizzie's age. She was covered in walker guts from head to toe, dirty and messy. He looked past her corpse, now lying lifeless on the ground, to see walkers headed towards them. She had sneaked right past them, and they had now noticed Ryan. How did she do that? Was it the guts?

He raised his sniper that had a silencer attached to it and took down the four walkers that were on the way. After they went down, he turned his attention back to the girl, and he began to cry. Then, many voices could be heard calling from the woods, whisper-yelling, "Sarah? Sarah, where did you go?"

Ryan panicked, wiped the tears from his face, yanked the machete from the girl's head, and threw her body into the trench they had dug for taking care of bodily functions, that could also double as a biter-tripping pit. Slow them down, at least.

Sierra exited her tent to check on Ryan after hearing the faint shots, and she took her shift. Ryan simply told her it was a few walkers.

She was approached by a man in walker guts many hours after taking shift. It was now quite late, and the wind was intensely strong and cold, but she had no choice but to keep guard, or else she would be putting everyone in danger. He was a bit pudgy, and looked smart. He had his arms wrapped around himself, desperately clinging for warmth under his wet, thin white jacket. Stepping out of the woods, he said, "Hello?" in a thick Mexican accent to Sierra. She raised her gun and refused to talk to him, plugging her nose with her fingers. "I'm just looking for my daughter," he told her. "I don't know where she went. Please, I just want her."

"Firstly, why are you covered in guts?" she asked, seemingly uncaring about this man's daughter. For all she knew, he was lying. Plus, people lost their kids all the time. This was nothing to cry and get upset about now. Just a day in the life of the world of walkers.

"Because I lost my weapons along with most of my supplies."

"What does that have to do with anything?"

"You don't know?" the man asked, getting a lifted eyebrow in response from Sierra. "If you put their guts on you, you're basically invisible. They can't tell the difference between you and any other old walker. You can hide. Now, have you seen my girl?"

Sierra pondered the validity and sense of what the man had just said. There were more important things to worry about, though, as he was obviously very worried about his daughter. "I don't know where your daughter is," the blonde said, her hardness cracking. "I'm sorry. I haven't seen her."

"Well, thank you anyways, I guess," he said, turning back to the woods.

"Wait," Sierra beckoned. "Are you sure you don't want to stay here with us? We can help you in the morning."

"No," the man said, his voice suddenly very cold. "I don't want to stay with you. I don't know you, and I need to get back to my people."

Sierra nodded her head, slightly confused. As he walked off, she considering shooting him so that she could loot him, but decided against it. He walked right past walkers, who barely sniffed at him before checking him off as a fellow undead corpse, and Sierra stood, astounded that he wasn't lying.

_Hopefully he finds his girl_, Sierra thought, and she was unaware of the corpse rotting in sewage a few feet behind the tents she was standing in front of; and Ryan sobbing in the tent he was now sharing with Amanda, who was wide awake, listening to the man she really didn't like mourning, presumably still over Lizzie.

"Yeah, but she still would have been useful if she were here," Oscar said to Shakira, the two of them once again whispering to one another in Spanish before they slept, pushed close against one another on their backs for warmth in the cold night.

"True," Shakira shrugged. "She was a great shot, and she was so smart. I am going to miss Patti so much."

"It is that way with a lot of people, though."

"Yeah."

They remained quiet for a few moments, watching the light of the fire flickering on the door of the blue tent, wishing it were a stronger, warmer flame.

Oscar was thinking about all of people he had lost. All of the people he had seen die or just leave. Marina, Emilia, Rosa, Abi-Maria, Hershel, Maggie, Lizzie, Ron, Jessie, Patti… and his family. Now was the time. He didn't know how much longer they would have. His group had plenty of experience being on foot, but not running from a herd. Not with such a large group, after having lost so many people. Things now were more uncertain than ever.

"We were in Lamesa," he began in English, and Shakira looked to him, shocked. "My dad was sitting on the porch, getting fresh air."

Shakira stopped him. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"I want to," he assured her, turning his head to look her right in the eyes. He continued, "He was disabled. Couldn't walk without our help, and we were too poor for a walker. Madre had just put him out there and she went to the bathroom, then was going to bring him food and they were going to eat outside. It was summer, so they usually ate outside, watching the sunset. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but when I got there, I found my dad being devoured by some of the turned neighborhood kids. He was screaming in pain, couldn't move or fight back in any way. He kept screaming, 'Kill me, mijo! Kill me! Save me from this, goddamn it!'" Oscar stopped talking for a moment, his eyes beginning to water. He blinked rapidly, trying to stop. "I just," he said, beginning to sniffle. "I couldn't. I ran inside, found my mom hiding in the bathroom, hysterical. She told me I had to kill Papa. She handed me his rifle, and told me she'd be right behind me. I could hear him outside screaming the whole time."

Shakira whispered, "Here," not trying to interrupt the boy as he continued telling his story, as she rolled up her sleeve and wiped at Oscars tears, then pulled him into her arms.

"Thank you," he said, crying hard. "So, I went out there, put the kids down. Then, I had to kill my dad. He looked so miserable. He died in front of me, and I waited so long to shoot him. He turned, started moving again. Madre thought he had survived. She got really excited, jumping up and down, and she pulled him into a hug. He bit into her neck, pulling out veins and muscles. It was gruesome. I shot him in the head, and Madre broke down. She clutched her neck, bleeding horribly, and ran off. I found her a few minutes later," he paused once more, his voice now a whimper. "She was throwing herself into a crowd of walkers." His eyes met Shakira's, tears flowing steadily from his eyes. "And she was dragging my little brother in with her by the hand."

He sobbed into Shakira's chest, and she had never felt closer to him than now. At the same time that she felt happy Oscar finally trusted her, she felt engulfed in guilt. She had pushed so hard for Oscar to tell her what had happened, and now she was worried the boy was never going to stop crying. Never going to get better.

Xavier and Kelly were awkwardly trying to ignore the thick sexual tension between themselves as they entered the tent, hearing the resulting "Ooh"s and simultaneously turning as red as tomatoes.

They laid there silent for a while, facing away from each other and attempting to sleep as everyone else filed into their own tents. As time passed, the wind picked up and they became much colder.

"Xavier?" Kelly eventually called, hoping he hadn't passed out yet.

"Yeah?" Xavier sounded.

"Oh," she said, slightly regretting speaking up. She really didn't have anything planned to talk about, and now she would be the one to break the tension, which made her slightly nervous. She just wanted to talk with Xavier. _Maybe I could talk about what all had happened?_ "Uh, I don't know."

"What's wrong?" he asked, turning over to see her, and she did the same.

Now lying on her side, Kelly thought. "Nothing," she said. "I was just thinking about Patti."

"You going to miss her?" the messy-haired man asked.

"I am," Kelly said. "I also feel really sad about everything."

"Yeah," he said, remembering the death scene of Jessie, Lizzie, and most importantly to him, Ron. He got intensely sad thinking about Ron going down like that. He couldn't help but blame Jessie, at least a little bit. She wasn't suitable for this world. She didn't know how to protect her boy in a life this dangerous. Xavier did, though. Xavier knew what had to be done, and had he been there instead of Jessie, he knows Ron would still be alive. He loved that kid, and he would always miss him. "I do, too."

"You know," she said after watching the light of the fire on the tent for a while, "I talked to Patti this morning. When we were making breakfast." Xavier nodded. "She told me she liked Seth. I convinced her to try to talk to him. She was going to do it when he got back this afternoon from the run." Kelly's lip quivered as she held back tears, and Xavier scooted closer to pull her into a hug, both to comfort her and to get warmer. "And now she never can," she said, her voice hollow.

They laid like that for a long time, and Kelly nearly fell asleep in his arms, the warmth soothing her. Xavier eventually became uncomfortable and tried to pull away, but she pulled him in tighter instinctively. She looked up to him, her eyes slightly glazed. _She looks so perfect, _Xavier thought. He slowly moved his head down to hers, motioning for a kiss, and she followed. Their kiss became intense, and Kelly began to wake up. One thing led to another, and soon they were on top of one another, tossing and turning in the tent, making love. Comforting each other with their bodies.

Sierra noticed, and she smiled to herself, but also felt a small hint of jealousy inside of herself. She shivered into her jacket and brushed it off, going back to keeping watch. _Things are more important than love, _she reminded herself. Keeping herself — these people, everyone she loved and had left in the world safe was her priority now.


	28. Chapter 28: Awkward

**Chapter 28 "Awkward"**

**Day 92; Group A**

It was morning, and everyone was hungry and cold from the night that had passed. The RV was cold at night, and last night they all slept in the bed, desperate for warmth.

They had a little bit of food they had kept in the RV in case something like this happened — referring to being separated — and they had found a few berries and nuts around the area, but most were gone or dead as fall ripened. They were now out of food, aside from a few leftover nuts. Lyrik, Allan, and Patricia were at the couch, talking quietly as the sun rose to not awake Mika and Beth.

"We need to go on a run," Allan said, eating a pecan and tossing the shells into a bag they used for garbage.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Patricia said about it.

"We don't have much choice," Lyrik said. Allan nodded his head, causing Lyrik to smile at the confirmation that she was correct.

"Either way, we're not strong enough. What if we find a whole house full of walkers? We've only got maybe six rounds between the five of us. Maybe about seven each, actually, since Mika can't shoot very well."

"Then we run. There's no shame in running. We turn around with what supplies we have and run back to the RV and drive off."

"What if someone steals the RV while we're in there?" the older woman questioned.

"Okay, well, how about we take shifts, maybe? Three go into a house first, while one of us shifts out to watch Mika and the RV."

"That could work," Lyrik said. "_Could,_" she emphasised.

"Let me guess, though," Patricia said, sighing. "You, of course, won't be taking shifts along with the rest of us. Because you're '_the most capable one of all you ladies,'"_ quoting something he had said often to them.

"Look, I'm not trying to be mean or anything, but I'm the best shot out of all of us."

"I'm pretty good, too," Lyrik pointed out.

"Well, yeah, but you're not the _best_," he declared, and Patricia and Lyrik gave him a dirty look. "Wait, I didn't," he said, trying to find his words.

"Save it," the dark-skinned girl said. "I know what you meant. None of us here are nearly as good as you are, and we could never be, either."

"No, I just," the man in dirty, stained flannel frowned, and rethought his words. He truly didn't mean to come off so self-centered and entitled. "I mean that I'm the surest chance we have of making it if we go scavenging, or get into any trouble. I just want to be there to make sure that no matter what we face, I can help. I can be there to keep you all safe, and make sure we don't lose anybody. I didn't mean to offend you guys."

"Whatever," Lyrik finished the argument. "It's settled, though. We're going into the nearest town, and we're taking shifts."

* * *

><p>They headed out a few hours later after Beth and Mike woke up. They spent some time looking for more food, but had very little luck, only finding some more pecans and walnuts, further fueling the need for a run.<p>

They loaded what supplies that had set up around the parked RV and drove it far south, past Bunker, past the next town called Ellington, and into the heart of another small town. As they drove in, they saw a sign that read, "Welcome to Winona! Small town, big people!"

"I hope that doesn't mean fat walkers," Allan joked, earning a chuckle from Lyrik and Patricia. "Those are the worst."

They drove in and began with the nearest house, working their way deeping into the town. For the first house, Allan, Lyrik, and Beth were the first ones in. In the second, Allan, Patricia, and Lyrik. In the next, Allan, Lyrik, and Patricia. The cycle continued for hours, and they got a good amount of supplies. They ended up with enough non-perishable foods to last them for the next two weeks, so long as they were careful; a lot more gas they decided to siphon from the cars they parked next to; and many non-food supplies, such as cotton swabs, matches, lighters, a few more bullets, and a few more weapons, along with other miscellaneous things.

They were on their last block, on the corner of 5th street, and everyone was complaining. "Allan, haven't we had enough close calls for one night?" Patricia asked, referring to the dozens of walkers they encountered inside of the houses, which were usually hidden or in great number, thus horrifyingly dangerous.

"Just one more building," he promised, leading them to the last house on the block as Lyrik went back into the RV, switching off with Beth. It was quite a large house, and as they approached, the moans could be heard from outside. There were many walkers.

"Can you hear that?" Beth asked rhetorically. "We should just go."

"With that many in there, they're bound to have tons of loot. Coulda been survivors. One died, it carried on, and they've been dead in there with things _we_ need."

They both frowned to each other. Allan had a really good point. "I still don't think it's a good idea," Patricia said.

"It's fine," Allan said. He observed the house. There was a large, elevated porch leading up to the door. The house was a single floor, and wide. All the rooms were likely connected, so they couldn't take it room-by-room. "We'll open the door and let them slowly come out," he decided. "I'll hold the door, one of you put the first one down, I'll open it enough to loose its body, and we'll repeat. Simple."

"How'd you come up with that?" Patricia questioned.

"I did it long before I met you all. It was me, Kelly, and this guy, Dante trying to get out of a trailer we were stuck in for a few days. Dante thought it up. Smart man." He made it to the door and pressed himself against it. "Not smart enough to still be here, though."

He opened the door and whistled, attracting the walkers to them. He closed it just in time for the first one to get caught between the door and the outer wall. Beth went up to it and easily stabbed it through the head with a screwdriver they found a few hours ago. Allan opened the door slightly, letting the body fall to the floor and repeated the process. Patricia used a small gardening shovel to kill the walker and it sliced right through the undead redneck, cutting off the top of its head, its skull and rotten brain falling grossly to the floor and rolling around for a moment. Beth turned around and gagged.

"Please don't be like Arnold," Patricia said, gagging as well due to Beth's. "If you puke, I'm gonna puke."

Allan rolled his eyes, pretending as though none of this bothered him. "I can't hold all these walkers back on my own," he said, pointing out that he had already gotten another one hinged. "One of you get over here and put this bitch down!"

Beth picked her screwdriver back up and shoved it into the walker's head, her left arm over her mouth as she swung down. When she tried pulling out the screwdriver, she struggled. It was stuck. She began to panic as more walkers came, visible through the crack Allan held open, and they were piling up on the door. She attempted to use her left hand to grab the screwdriver, but only ended up hurting her fingers, still bandaged from when she cut them off..

"Just leave it!" Allan yelled, putting all of his weight against the door.

Beth continued to grab for the screwdriver, desperate. The weight of the walkers proved too much, and it burst open, causing Beth to scream in horror as she fell to her rear, the screwdriver still not loose. Allan was pushed back, and he reached for his gun. Allan and Patricia opened fire on the mass of walkers as Beth pushed herself backwards from them. Lyrik exited the RV to see the scene, and immediately ran to help, taking down a few. Allan and Patricia found themselves with only two bullets each as Lyrik easily got headshots on many of them. As it thinned, they took down the remaining few walkers physically.

"Is everyone okay?" Allan asked, panting.

"I think so," Beth said, cradling her injured hand.

Patricia went to the walker dead by the door and yanked the screwdriver out of its skull.

"Was it really worth it?" Allan asked, clearly angry about this.

"Shut up, you ass," Patricia warned as she handed the screwdriver back to Beth.

After taking a few moments to recollect themselves, Allan finally remembered the whole reason they did this. "Well, are we gonna clear this house, or what?"

Patricia sighed as the sun began to set. As she looked around the area, she noticed three figures approaching from the treeline to the west. "Aw, hell. More walkers."

Allan squinted at them, and became confused. "I'm not sure about that. Look at the way they're moving."

"Well, that one's missin' a hand," Patricia pointed out.

"That's why I'm not sure."

As they came closer, it was clear that they were in fact not undead. It was two male figures and a female. The man in the middle was large, with big, toned muscles, short black hair, and a chiseled chin with a matching, short beard. To his left was another man, not near as buff and a half a foot shorter than the middle man, with long brown hair up in a ponytail and only a bit of stubble. Everyone immediately noticed how attractive the two were, including Allan, who even could admit when he found a man attractive. The girl to the large man's right had short brown hair, and was at least a foot and a half shorter than the muscled fellow. She had very tan skin and appeared to be of some sort of middle-eastern European descent, such as Indian or Arab, and she was missing her right hand. They were all wearing quite dirty clothes and their hands were dark with dirt, but that was to be expected in these times.

They approached with their hands up, but they obviously had guns and knives holstered. "Hello!" the man in the center called.

Allan, Beth, Patricia, and Lyrik held their guns up, untrusting. "Who are you?" Allan yelled.

"Strangers," he said.

"Can I have names?"

"Well, my name's Taylor," the strong man said. "This is Malcolm," he shrugged his head to the smaller man, then to the woman, "and she's Sarita."

"Well, what do you want?"

"At this moment, your names. If we have to, so do you."

Allan rolled his eyes. "I'm Allan. The blonde's Beth, this is Patricia," he gestured, "and that's Lyrik. What do you _want?_"

"Companionship. Camaraderie. Friends. Numbers. For us to pool our supplies and strength. Clearly, you folks need it."

"Who says we don't have more people? That we don't have a camp with tons more people?"

"Well, if you did, clearly none of you would be out on a run this dangerous for this long."

"You've been watching us?" Beth asked, slightly worried.

"Don't twist it around and make it awkward. We wouldn't have approached you without getting to know a little bit about you first, would we?" Allan frowned, suddenly nervous. He wondered how much they knew. If he knew they only had a few bullets left apiece. "Switching out like that, huh? Clearly you've got someone or something in that RV that needs guarding." Beth bit her lip. "What is it? Someone disabled? A prisoner? Child?"

"It's," Beth paused, considering. What could she say that would scare them into leaving? Or that would let them know they are trustable and to not hurt them? She decided there was no way to know what they would want to hear, what would keep them safe, so she told the truth. "It's a little girl."

Taylor seemed to soften, and Beth was put at ease with telling the truth. "Well, in that case, please. For her sake, join us. No offense, but you need us. Sarita here's smart with medicine, if none of you are a doctor and need help. Me and Malcolm are strong. Good with all sorts of weapons."

"What do you get out of it?" Allan inquired.

"I already listed everything I would get. Friendship, all that. It's been just us three for a while, and we need numbers bad. You all may not be the best, but you're definitely capable. Useful. Cleared out three whole blocks of houses and an overrun house all on your own."

Allan smiled, proud of himself for being what he thought to be such a good leader. _If I didn't make them clear out that last house, we might never have been approached by these people. That could be bad, but if it's good, I'm the reason we got us more useful people._

"We've got a place really close to here," Taylor stated. "Right down the street, actually. If you're all in."

Allan looked to the other three, almost ready to agree. Beth nodded. Lyrik shrugged. Patricia took a moment, but put her gun down. "We're in, then," he finally said, making sure everyone agreed.

They all got into the RV, where Beth introduced Mika to the new people. Malcolm sat up front with Allan, pointing him to the place they were staying. According to him, they had only gotten here a few days ago, coming from Kentucky. They were staying with some people they thought were good, but they then found out that they were what they perceived to be crazy and absolutely heinous.. Any person they met, they killed and looted, no matter who it was. Big strong threat, sad lonely woman, scared lost child, anyone. Taylor and Malcolm had been together from the beginning and they got out with Sarita, who they knew shared their ideals.

* * *

><p>The place they were staying used to be a store. It had a sign above it that once read, "Winona Hardware &amp; Building Supply," but had been crossed out and written over with the words, "NO HOPE," made in something red. They weren't sure if it was blood or paint, but either way, it was a sad thing to see.<p>

Outside it, a few dead walkers were littered about near the treeline. "Helps keep other walkers away," Malcolm claimed.

That night they had dinner together, eating meat they had gotten from a few squirrels Taylor and Malcolm had hunted that morning and the rest of the nuts and berries Patricia had kept in the RV. They sat at the counter that was previously used for checking out customers, which reminded Lyrik of the day this all began; losing LaRissa, and later Lily, and now Robert. She pushed the thoughts away, though, to this moment. Observing the new people, and celebrating the friendship they were forming.

Throughout the meal, the girls couldn't help but flirt with Taylor and Malcolm, as they were both very attractive men to them.

"I don't know how you've kept your hands off of them," Lyrik joked to Sarita.

"Who says I have?" she retorted with a coy smile.

"Ooooooh," Lyrik said as everyone laughed. "Which one's yours? Or is it both?" she smiled widely.

"It's both," the Indian woman said flippantly, and Malcolm and Taylor both looked on with uncomfortable smiles. It felt strange being talked about like they were meat, and like they weren't even there, but they didn't want to come off as assholes the first night they spent together. After the laughter eased, she noticed their faces and corrected herself. "I've actually not been with either. I'm not exactly ready for anything like that yet," she said, drifting off, returning her focus to the berries and squirrel meat in front of her.

Beth and Patricia frowned, realizing she probably meant she had lost her significant other. Small talk continued among everyone once more, but Beth couldn't take her eyes off of Sarita's limb, her right arm cut off at the elbow. It reminded her of Maggie, and she became quite sad thinking about it. She wondered if the darker woman's arm had been cut off due to a walker bite. She had to know. When the conversation around her died a little bit, she took her chance. "Ma'am," she began.

"Sarita," the older woman corrected. "Just call me Sarita. No need for formalities."

"Right. Sarita, what happened to your hand? Not trying to be rude or anything, though."

"Oh, it's fine," she half-smiled to the blonde. "There's no offense taken. Everyone asks me about it. Do you really want to know? It's a long story. Kinda awkward."

Beth looked to the others, who looked just as curious. She nodded her head to Sarita.

"Well, it was a long time ago. Back when this all began. I was in Louisville, Kentucky, where I used to live. When it happened, me and my boyfriend Burton locked ourselves in his apartment building. We were forced to leave after a while, and when we escaped there were so many of them. One of them bit me, and I did my best to pull myself off of it. Burton panicked. We had watched other people turn after being bitten through our windows. I don't know what it was but he just acted on impulse, and instead of chopping into the walker biting on me, he swung down on my arm. At the time, I thought he had missed, or had gone mad. He had emotional problems, and I knew that. He feared being alone more than anything, and had severe anxiety. But he saved my life. We made it out of there, and I never turned. I was afraid of him for a while, but I see now that he was just desperate. That he was trying to help the one person he loved. He apologized so many times…"

"So, what happened to him?" Lyrik inquired.

"He's gone now. Obviously." Beth nudged Lyrik with her shoulder, giving her a scolding look for making Sarita sad. "It's fine," she said, noticing the guilt on the two young girls' faces. "After he cut off my hand, I got really sick. We made it to this group sometime after, and he convinced them to go on a run to get medicine for me. He talked to me the night before he left when I was asleep, and it woke me up, but I pretended to still be out. I still hadn't forgiven him. He talked about a lot of things, and how sorry he was. Made me realize he wasn't crazy. That he truly did care for me." She stared down at the table, clutching her arm. Malcolm wrapped his arm around her, pulling her in close and she smiled to him. "Anyways, he left on that run. He and five other people. Only two men returned, and Burton wasn't one of them. They had the medicine, though. And I made it. They told me about the things he did, and how they had to leave him behind. A walker snuck up on him and ate into him. It wasn't savable at all. He asked them to leave him. Let him turn." Her voice quivered, "And they did."

As they continued eating, things eventually lightened up. The small-talk resumed, and they all ended on a positive note. That night, it rained, and they were thankful as ever that they were out of the RV, in the nice, warm building, all around a fireplace with people who would hopefully become friends.


	29. Chapter 29: Aftermath

**Chapter 29 "Aftermath"**

**Day 92; Group B**

They awoke late that morning, getting much-needed sleep as they huddled together from the cold. The herd had passed long ago, but they were much too cold and exhausted to get themselves going. Daniel drove for today, with everyone in the couch of the RV. They pulled into the road to see the house around noon, the lake behind it glimmering beautifully, just as it had the day they first found this house. Seth and Shawn sighed, seeing the clear difference between then and now. The house was now clearly decimated. Doors were off their hinges or scratched, windows were broken, everything was dirty and trampled. There were seeds and tools scattered around the garden, and all of the plants and soil had been flattened. They quickly noticed that the RV was missing, and after a while, they realized that the vans down at the house down the road were missing, as well.

"This is the aftermath," Robert said under his breath, only heard by Selenis and Greyson.

"I think they got out," Greyson said hopefully.

"Or they died and were looted," Seth grimly stated.

"Well, let's go find out," Shawn said.

They exited the RV, weapons at the ready. They entered the house to see many walkers around. "Put them down silently if you can. Don't hurt the face, we need to know if it's one of ours."

They took down the walkers in the house using their knives, axes, and screwdrivers. They found a total of seven walkers in the building, and not one of them looked familiar. Slightly relieved, they fanned out and took what supplies were left of the house, which was quite a lot. Anything that wasn't out in the open, thus wasn't trampled over by walkers or at least fondled by them, they decided was good and took it. The only things they took that were out in the open were inedible things, such as weapons, medicines in their bottles or packaging, and other such things.

They found their belongings, aside from Daniel's and Greyson's, along with Allan's, Mika's, Lyrik's, and the remaining belongings of Jessie, Ron, and Lizzie.

"Why didn't they take any of their stuff?" Robert questioned worriedly.

"Maybe they just didn't have time," Greyson reasoned. He knew Robert cared greatly for Lyrik, her being his only remaining friend from before all of this. The freckled boy envied Robert a little bit for that. His friends were all dead or gone. He had seen much of his family and friends die early on in St. Louis when this all began. The rest, he had no idea where they were. All he had was Daniel, who was a neighbor he didn't even know. They lived a few blocks from one another, but they never spoke before this began.

Seth put a hand on Robert's shoulder. "Come on, we need to keep moving."

Robert nodded, grabbing up the left behind supplies of their friends and throwing them into the RV.

Outside, Daniel was keeping watch. They knew the herd was still close, and it might not take a whole lot to turn them right around to sweep this house once more. He headed around to the back porch, and he saw another walker from behind. He smiled and pulled out his axe to approach and put down the walker. He whistled to it, and she turned around.

Standing before him was a dead, mangled corpse of one of his closest friends. Undead Patti stood in front of him, snapping her teeth. Daniel pursed his lips, overwhelmed with sadness. He gripped the ax in his hand as she approached, limping. There were holes and bites all along her skin, many places, including her entire right arm, were missing, gnaw marks left in their place. It was clear that the herd had gotten her.

He pulled the axe back and swung it when she got too close for comfort, jamming it in her neck. Annoyed he had missed, he lifted his leg and kicked her off of his axe. Freeing it, he drew it back once more and got her square in the head. Her body fell limp, and he yanked the axe out of her head using his feet to push her off once more. He sighed, and noticed she was carrying many bags. He put his shirt over his nose to try to keep the smell out, bent down, and grabbed the bags of from around her shoulders. They were her own, his, and Greyson's. She had tried to get their stuff for them… Or was simply trying to get as many supplies as possible. He sighed yet again and continued his watch.

When everyone seemed finished gathering supplies, Daniel told them what happened, showing them her corpse, and then pointing to his and Greyson's bags, explaining that she had probably tried to take them to keep their things for just in case.

They mourned, but did not bury her. They needed to get going. Too much time had already been wasted, and a proper funeral would only slow them down more. They had an impromptu service with Daniel, Selenis, and Seth vocally expressing their sadness to see her pass. When Greyson looked like he was about to cry, Robert pulled him into a hug. For once, Greyson did not fight back. He hugged Robert back, taking the comfort and caring Robert was offering to him.

After a few final moments, they loaded up and made their way south, following the tracks left behind by the vehicles, though they were quite flattened. Along the way, they found the abandoned vans with no signs of being recently used. They were empty of people and supplies, no signs of blood or a fight.

"What do you think happened?" Selenis questioned.

"Maybe they ran outta gas," Greyson suggested. "Had to pick up and leave."

"Or maybe someone stopped 'em," Seth said. "Took 'em hostage."

"Seth, shut up," Robert said, looking worriedly to Greyson.

As they continued down the road, they saw a large hole dug, and clearly a body was in the sewage. Everyone held their breath, both because of the stench and in case it was one of them, as Shawn used a large fallen branch to face the body towards them. They didn't recognize it, and thought it to be either Shakira or Mika at first, due to the size of it. They eventually decided that it must be a walker, and they continued on. They noticed small holes in the ground and the ashes of a fire. "They've definitely been here," Seth said.

They made it a ways further down the road, but saw the back end of the herd and sighed. This thing was going to be the death of them, they collectively thought as they backed away from the walkers silently. They kept driving around the herd, getting back to the other side of the path, where they found more, clearer tracks. They hadn't been trampled over, and it was clear that they were the tracks of the other RV.

They followed after it until it ran onto a road. They looked around the surrounding treelines and dirt roads, but only found animal prints and another track of tires, but they were clearly made by a large pickup truck and appeared to be old. They had no choice but to move on, and they found a log cabin to sleep in for the night, taking nice refuge from the coming rain. They cleared it out, only finding the walker of an old man constrained in a wheelchair in the back room, which was quickly and easily taken down and disposed of.


	30. Chapter 30: Again

**Chapter 30 "Again"**

**Day 92; Group C**

The group woke up early that morning. They packed everything back away and did their best to cover their tracks, though they overlooked the latrine and the holes they used for their tents. When they left, they attached small branches to the back of the three in the back's feet to cover their tracks, fearful of the Mexican man Sierra had told them from about the night before.

They had left shortly after sunrise. Ryan was at the front, leading the group. He was thankful Shawn wasn't there, or else they might currently be fighting. He was also thankful no one from the scouting group he was with on the day they met the biker gang was there, or else they might have something smart to say about him being a leader, as well.

Directly behind him was Sierra and Otis, who were keeping an eye out in the trees surrounding the path they were walking, both holding sniper rifles. They both worried for their missing loved ones, but they couldn't let those thoughts overwhelm them. Their purpose right now was to escape the pursuit of the herd and survive.

Following them was Amanda, who was lost in thought as she held a butcher's knife she had grabbed from the kitchen when they left. She couldn't stop thinking about everyone else. About Beth, and if she was okay. If her missing fingers hindered her and became the death of her. About Seth, and if he even cared about her. She knew he was still alive. He was the biggest and strongest out of all of them. If anyone made it, it had to be him.

Behind her was Xavier and Kelly, who were awkwardly making small-talk, dancing around the subject of what had happened the night before.

Finally, Gabriel, Shakira, and Oscar rounded out the back of the group, twigs tucked into the back of their socks and shoes to brush away their tracks. Mostly, they remained quiet, but when they did speak, it was in Spanish, and usually just comments about the conversations they could hear.

"So," Xavier hesitantly began. "Was last night just… sex to you?"

"No," Kelly said, not wanting him to think she didn't care about him, or was easy.

"So, then," he hesitated once more, very nervous. "Are we… together?"

Kelly smiled to him. "I dunno," she teased.

"So…?"

"We'll see," she grinned. "I'm not sure I'm ready to settle down just yet," she joked.

Xavier lifted a brow and looked very concerned. "Wait, what?" He looked around at the others in the group. "Are you having sex with some of the other guys?"

Kelly laughed at how jealous Xavier got, and decided to tease him more. "Who said it was just the guys?"

Xavier's eyes grew wide, and Kelly laughed even harder. "I'm just kidding," she finished. "I just...don't think I'm ready for another relationship just yet." She thought of Roger, and considered the possibility of ever seeing him again. She still loved him, but she knew he was probably long gone. Even if he wasn't, would he still love _her?_ Would he still want her? He could have moved on, found another person to love.

Xavier half frowned at her as she looked at the ground, but feigned a smile when she looked back up. "I understand."

* * *

><p>After about an hour of walking, Xavier leaned in to kiss the purple-haired girl, and Amanda in front of them yelled "Break?" to Ryan, interrupting them. They blushed and got in the formation, a row along the treeline facing the street.<p>

Ryan made Xavier and Sierra get up and go scout the area around them, both to check for food and to make sure the herd wasn't too close. They were both very strong, capable survivors, and have been for a very long time. They've had to claw their way up from nothing to get jobs in the careers of choice, and along the way they experienced many things that have helped them adapt to this world. Now, though, things were strange between them. They were once together, and they had a huge fight that broke them up. They didn't talk at all, and a few weeks later, they were forced to be around one another once again, and taking care of a child. Then, Xavier finds a new girl. And there is obviously tension over it. Originally, Xavier wanted to ask Sierra if she was okay while they were out, but he decided against it. She seemed very focused now, and he could only assume she was doing well, so they only spoke sparingly.

They found many chestnuts, walnuts, and pecans, along with a few raspberries, but there was very little of it. They moved west, following the food on the trees, and then, the trees opened up into a field and they could see a house. It was quite large, and seemed like it could be useful. If the herd wasn't following them anymore, they could stay there for a while.

They began heading south, finding cover once more in the woods. As they got further south, they grew more quiet. Then, they heard it. The sickly, disgusting moans of walkers.

They looked to one another, eyes wide, and turned around, and when they got far enough they fell into a sprint, trying to get back to their group as soon as possible. They exited the brush, hearts pounding hard. "The herd is just a little bit away. We have to _move!"_

"You're shittin' me," Ryan said, annoyed, as he quickly pulled himself up to his feet.

"No," Xavier panted, "I'm not. Let's _go!"_

"Where?!" Gabriel asked, grabbing his stuff up as everyone did the same, quickly rising.

"We found a house on the other side of the woods not far from here," Sierra said, pushing Xavier to lead the way as she helped everyone get their bags. "We can get there and hide if we hurry."

Clouds began rolling in, darkening the sky as they ran through the woods. After running for about fifteen minutes, many were getting winded and exhausted. Thankfully, they were very close to the house. When they exited the woods, they saw Xavier at the door, attempting to pick the lock.

"Just bust it open like we usually do!" Ryan yelled as they caught up.

"Are you an idiot?! If we break down this door or bust open a window, we might as well just keep running! Not much of a house without doors!"

"Well, what do we do?" the large man asked between breaths, feeling very exhausted.

Sierra looked around nervously, and noticed windows on the top floor. She then looked around, searching for the person who seemed the least tired from running. Oscar, Xavier, and Kelly seemed to be in the best condition. She couldn't take Xavier because he was probably the best lock picker. She decided on Oscar, assuming he might have the best upper-arm strength.

"They're comin'!" Otis yelled as walkers came out of the northern tree-line in the distance.

Sierra jumped into action and grabbed Oscar's wrist. "We'll find a way in! You all stay here and get that lock done!"

She let go of him as he began to run in time with her as she led him around the house, looking upwards. She was searching for a low, large, or open window. Luckily, she found one wide open around the back of the house, and a bench was underneath it. She helped Oscar in, giving him a boost. When he was in, before even looking around, he turned back to the window to grab Sierra's hand and help her in. As she began climbing holding Oscar's hand, he screamed in agony and she fell onto her rear, hurting her foot on the bench on the way down.

Oscar had been bitten, a walker in the room snapping into action as he entered it and faced away from him, chewing into the boy's left shoulder. The boy screamed and let go of the blonde in response to the unexpected pain, and quickly grabbed a nearby lamp to hit the walker in the head and smashing the bulb into the undead woman's head. When he was sure it was dead, he turned back to the window. "Sorry! Get to the others, I'll open the door!"

Sierra nodded hesitantly in response, quickly limping to join the others. Oscar went to the closet in the room he was in and put on a coat to cover the bite. They didn't need to deal with this on top of everything else. He sprinted to the door, wincing as his wound moved every time his arm swung. He opened it up and Xavier stumbled in, Kelly's hair clip stuck in the knob. He yanked it out and they all followed in, beginning to close curtains and pile objects in front of windows and doors. Sierra was the last one in, and she locked the door behind her. She looked around, but couldn't see the Mexican boy, so she began helping with barricading the doors.

Oscar had gone back upstairs to dispose of the walker's body before the herd got too close, and before others in the group saw it and began asking questions. He threw it out the window, struggling. When it finally fell, he eased back into the rest of the group and assisted them with the barricades.

Shortly after, the walkers could be seen getting very close through a crack between boxes put in front of a curtainless window, and they filed upstairs. Sierra had already gone upstairs and found the biggest room with the fewest windows, and she led them all in. Most of them huddled into the large walk-in closet. Ryan and Sierra, however, stayed in the main part of the bedroom, taking occasional peeks at the herd, and remaining ready in case of walkers making it in.

* * *

><p>Hours and hours passed, and it was now raining, obscuring their view of the walkers, but definitely not doing a lot to quiet their haunting moans. Many noises could be heard from downstairs as time passed. Scratches on the walls, some glass breaking. Kelly had fallen asleep after staring at Xavier for hours, contemplating. Quickly, everyone but Ryan was asleep, lulled to rest as the rain beat down on the house. The large main remained attentive, subtly looking out of the windows every few minutes to look for signs of the herd clearing up, as well as keeping his ears trained for just in case the walkers began attacking the house.<p>

Oscar had managed to get Sierra to mostly forget about him dropping her, focused more on guard duty and allowing the boy to get rest. He and many others had moved out of the closet as the night drew nearer, feeling more comfortable and safe in the room.

It was now a quarter to 11:00 PM, according to Ryan's watch. He coughed, and sighed, realizing he was coming down with a cold.

Feet from him, leaned against the wall outside of the closet, Oscar's breath slowly halted.

Only twenty moments later, his fingers began moving. His eyes opened, milky and unknowing. His mouth opened, letting out a small moan that could easily be mistaken for a sigh or a cough. He turned and looked to his right, seeing the steady breath of Shakira, who was lying on her side, and the undead man was inches from her neck before Ryan coughed hard. _Why does this always happen to me?_ the large man thought to himself.

The reanimated corpse of Oscar stood to his feet and made his way to the noise. He opened his mouth, ready for the food, and let out a groan, getting Ryan's attention, who turned to the thin, now deceased, boy, and kicked it in the legs, hoping to make it fall to the ground, but instead, Oscar fell forward and bit right down into the leader's belly, ripping out intestines, tearing into the stomach, eating the ribs, clawing for the lungs, destroying veins. Ryan quickly perished, blood pouring out of his mouth and pooling onto the bed. Sierra, lying on the other side of the bed was awoken moments later, as Oscar's intense growls became louder and the sloshing of Ryan's guts continued.

She opened her eyes and held her breath, using the hand she was lying on to grasp her knife. The other was in front of her, now slightly damp with Ryan's pooling blood. She grimaced and quickly rose, swiftly ramming the blade of her knife into the familiar walker's head. When it was down, she looked to the others and debated what to do. She looked out the window. Walkers were still coming, so she couldn't shoot Ryan, and she couldn't get rid of his body no matter how she put him down.

"Guys," she announced, trying to wake them without being too loud. Those nearest to her opened their eyes, hesitant and groggy. Shakira looked up to meet eyes with a very sympathetic-looking blonde. She was confused at the face Sierra was making, her eyes then suddenly going wide as she saw the scene behind her. Oscar's corpse was lying on the floor next to the bed, a stab wound in his head and covered from nose to chest in blood. On the bed was Ryan, his face barely visibly as he was basically a large lump of red, his guts everywhere around the room, soaking the bed completely.

Everyone began to wake one another up, and they all stood around Ryan's body. Sierra had explained what happened, and what she assumed had caused Oscar to turn. When no one else would, Sierra was the one to put him down, slowly sliding the knife into the large man's head.

They covered their bodies with a blanket and quietly moved into the next-largest room across the hall, where they would try to get more rest. Shakira did not sleep, tears in her eyes the whole night. Gabriel held her, trying to comfort her and get her to rest, but he just ended up falling asleep on her. She didn't mind, though. She was thankful someone cared. She wasn't sure she would ever be able to get over losing Oscar. In her thirty-nine years of living, losing a twenty-year-old she had only known for a few months hurt more than anything else ever had. Losing her parents, her siblings, her friends, her husband. For some reason, nothing could compare to the pain she was feeling now. Maybe it was because of how gruesome it was. Maybe it was because he was her last remaining friend. She still had those she loved around her when she met Oscar, and she easily transferred her love for them into him. Now, she felt so alone. She realized how screwed up she sounded. How awful it all was. She blamed it on the stress, the sorrow, and everything that came packaged in the apocalypse.

* * *

><p><em>Today, I'm uploading TWO chapters! Chapters 29 &amp; 30. I've done this because I've got a lot going on in my life, and in order to keep going, I'm going to have to take a break. I've written to chapter 31, and that's not far enough to be able to keep posting regularly. I have finals coming up and writing the story is quite time-consuming. Further, I've recieved a few complaints that I write too quickly for people to keep up, so this is your chance to catch up.<em>

_I apologize, but fear not, for my next chapter will be out on January 15th! I hope to see you all then. Also, edits may happen to a few chapters if I have time._


	31. Chapter 31: Searching

**Chapter 31 "Searching"**

**Day 93; Group B**

The group awoke early, getting moving quickly. If they stayed there much longer the herd could get them. Who knows what could possibly happen in that situation? Sure, they _may_ be fine, but there's no use in risking it.

"Some of them might be hiding out in that town we tried dropping Abi-Maria off in," Seth suggested.

"You mean Bunker?" Selenis clarified.

"Yeah."

They all agreed that this was a good idea, and loaded up to get off the path and head into Bunker. They drove down the roads of the small town, keeping an eye out for an RV, people on foot, or any signs of movement that weren't walkers. The group had already looted all of the houses of all things, including curtains and most fabrics, so they're sure they would have noticed if some houses were being lived in or used as refuge, and there were no unfamiliar vehicles around, nor could they tell if any of the vehicles around had disappeared. It seemed to be untouched, so they found a house on the outskirt of town to rest in for the night while they planned out their next course of action.

"We could find another place," Seth said. "A bigger, better place."

"With fences," Daniel added.

"Or we could do like my group did," Selenis suggested. "Before we met you all."

"What's that?" Daniel asked, not very familiar with everyone's stories just yet.

"Keep moving," the only woman in the group stated. "Don't get stuck again like we did back there. That's why we got separated. If we were traveling, we'd all still be together."

"Yeah, as undead corpses," Shawn added. "Just because we would have seen them all together doesn't mean we all would have survived. You can't tell me you had less casualties on the road than in a stationary place."

Selenis shrugged. "Well…" she tried. "I guess you're right."

"I say we start looking for them," Shawn declared. "Everyone I have left in the world is out there, and I don't want to just leave them behind; to move on. That's not right, and I couldn't do it."

Robert nodded his head. "I agree."

Greyson remained silent, but nodded, appealing to the leader and the brunet with now quite long hair (Robert) sitting next to him.

"How about we vote?" Shawn suggested, and everyone rolled their eyes.

"We already know who wins," Seth groaned. "But I say, while we search, if we find a nice place like, I dunno, a mall — ooh! Or a prison. Something cool like that. I say we take note of it and come back to it when we inevitably give up." Robert and Shawn glared at Seth. "Come on! I'm just kidding, Jesus Christ."

"So, it's settled?" Selenis asked. "We're searching?"

They all nodded among themselves, and got going. The headed out towards the east, trying to flee the areas the herd could hit if it continues on its path. They arrived in a town called Centerville around thirty minutes later. Seth gritted his teeth at the name of the town. Yet another '-ville.'

* * *

><p>They had been clearing out houses for hours, looking not only for the group, but for supplies and a place to sleep for the night. They had found a lot more food, some miraculously fresh bread that had been frozen, and even managed to kill an owl that was taking refuge in a house they entered.<p>

They had chose between about four different houses, and they decided on a trailer that was on a dirt road, hidden by the forest, and only a block away from the highway.

They made a fire in the fenced back yard and had owl sandwiches.

There was very little space inside of the house, so they were forced to share beds.

Daniel and Seth shared a bed, which gave Daniel very awkward emotions. They both slept fully-clothed and at opposite ends of the bed.

Selenis and Shawn shared a bed, which was just as awkward. Shawn, however, felt comfortable enough to take his shirt off.

Greyson and Robert had the most awkward night of all. Greyson had gotten very comfortable with Robert over the past two days. He had opened up to him about how he misses everyone, and cared for them. They were now lying in the bed, facing away from one another, talking about their new agenda.

"I hope we don't get ourselves into more trouble than it's worth looking for our people," Greyson said.

"We won't," Robert replied. "Any trouble we get into, we can handle. If it's for our _family,"_ he emphasized, "then it's worth it."

Greyson turned to look at Robert. "I didn't mean it like that," he said apologetically.

"No, I know what you meant. You don't want us risking our lives for people who could likely be dead already."

Greyson frowned. Robert turned around, and they were facing one another. Things quickly became tense, and Robert reached out a hand, putting it on top of Greyson's, who flinched in response but did not remove his hand.

"Are you okay?" Robert asked Greyson.

Greyson pulled his hand out from Robert's and put it below his head. "Robert, please."

"Please what?"

"Just," Greyson began and turned back around.

Robert scooted closer. "Greyson, seriously, what's the matter? Why do you always open the door but then just kick me out when I reach the steps up?"

Greyson curled himself into a tight ball, knowing Robert was moving closer.

"You don't have to be shy, or uncomfortable, or scared." Robert put a hand on the other boy's shoulder. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Greyson sighed. He wasn't sure what he wanted in this moment, but he was scared. Not of Robert, but of this. Of his own emotions. Of what might happen if he lost Robert after putting all of his love and trust in him.

"If you don't trust me at all, then why are you still here?"

"I do trust you," Greyson said, his voice a high whimper. He felt embarrassed at the squeak he released. He must look like a fool.

Robert smiled slightly to himself at the way the freckled boy replied. "Then what's the problem?"

Greyson shut his eyelids hard, holding back a tear. "Because," he breathed, "I'm afraid of what might happen if I lose you."

The taller boy put an arm under Greyson and pulled him into a hug. "Why would you be afraid of that?"

The freckled one was now crying hard into Robert's chest, struggling to breathe. "Why wouldn't I be?" he sniffled. "We've already lost so many. Everyone we're looking for could be _dead, _and I just don't want to see someone I love — let alone someone that I could fall in love with — die."

Robert smiled. Greyson had finally opened up to him. He knew it wasn't the most appropriate thing to do by smiling, but he felt happy for the first time in a long time. "You can't worry about that," Robert calmed him. "If you're afraid to die, then what's the point in living?"

Greyson's crying continued. He knew that Robert was right, and that he should be letting Robert know that he was feeling better. But this was good. This was the first time he has gotten a chance to cry in an accepting, open environment. If he cried while bunked with Daniel, the older boy would yell at him. If he cried while bunked with one of the others, things would likely get very awkward. It wasn't awkward with Robert, though. For some reason, it was like they had a special bond. He had no idea what it was, but the freckled boy was thankful that it was there.

Robert began stroking Greyson's back, soothing him. Robert realized he knew very little about the boy. He didn't truly understand just why the boy was crying. Who he had lost, what he had done.

"So, Grey, uh…" Robert silenced himself momentarily, not meaning to call Greyson that. He had only ever referred to him as that in his head. He didn't seem to care, though, so Robert continued. "Can we, like, get to know each other? Like, really get to know each other?" Greyson looked up to him with tears in his eyes. The darker-haired boy really didn't like him for personality. It _was_ all just about his appearance. He frowned, but appreciated that Robert was trying, and he nodded. "I mean, I know you think a lot. I know you like to write. Saw you and Patti writing little poems a few days after we moved in. I know you sing,"

"You know I sing?"

Robert smiled. Greyson looked almost shocked. "Well, when you say you're gonna go to the bathroom, I know that sometimes you sneak off to sing."

Greyson blushed and wiped away the remaining tears from his face. "How?"

"Well, y'know," Robert began, and tried to come up with a lie. How would Greyson take Robert following him out to the woods, or pressing himself against the door? It was only slightly because of how much he liked Greyson. The biggest reason was that he suspected Greyson to be suicidal or depressed.

"Am I just loud?" Greyson asked, breaking Robert's attempts at forming a lie. "Does anyone else know?

Robert pounced on the handout. "Kinda," he said. "Lyrik, Patricia, Selenis, and Beth know, but that's how it is with friends," Robert chuckled as Greyson's blush remained, his eyes growing wider. "Sorry. It's just, I liked your voice. So I told them I heard you singing, and they thought it was cute. So do I."

Greyson awkwardly looked away, breaking eye contact. "Is that all you know about me?"

"I know that it was you, Daniel, and uh...Amy, was it?"

"Amber," Greyson corrected, remembering his dear friend.

"Right, sorry. It was you three when Ryan and his people met you."

Greyson nodded. "That it?"

"I know that you and Amber were close. And that losing her affected you a lot. You hate peanut brittle, and so do I. Your favorite artist was Lady Gaga, and she was mine, as well. You love..."

Greyson stared off at the wall, his eyes glazing over as Robert listed the things he knew. The freckled boy acknowledged that Robert knew more about him than he expected, but he couldn't take his mind off of Amber. She was his best friend, and though she wasn't strong, or smart, or brave, he missed her more than anything. She was no use in this world, but in the old one she was everything to him. She was the funniest person he knew. When he came out to his parents on his eighteenth birthday, it was her who comforted him, reminding him that people still loved and cared for him. She gave him a place to stay when he lost his job and ran out of money.

"So what do you know about me?" Robert asked, finally pulling Greyson away from his thoughts.

"Um," he began, thinking. "Your birthday is in October, so you'll be nineteen in the next couple of months."

"If the calendar's right," Robert smiled. "Wait, when's your birthday?"

"Middle of August," Greyson smiled weakly.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait," Robert said as he raised his hand in front of the other boy, his eyes wide. "Not only did we pass your birthday without you telling us, but you're _older than me?"_

Greyson's smile was now genuine. "Well, y'know," Greyson said, imitating Robert's words from earlier, highlighting that they both know something the other didn't.

Robert smiled at him and pulled him closer into a hug. "That it?" Robert imitated Greyson's prodding.

"You said you know I sing," Greyson smiled deviously as Robert nodded. "Well, I hear you talking to yourself sometimes."

The embarrassment Greyson had felt was now coursing through Robert. He pursed his lips as he stared at the younger boy. "Hell," he said. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised." Greyson shrugged in return. "You haven't, uh, heard anything, have you?"

Greyson's smile became devious once more. "Maybe."

Robert laughed. "Well, whatever you heard, I'm sorry you had to listen in on that...craziness."

Greyson nodded. "Well," he said, "I did hear one thing. About how you also lost your best friends. I think you said their names were Lily and LaRissa. Both really early on."

"Too early," Robert frowned. If one of them were here right now, things would be so much easier for him. He wouldn't be as much of a wreck. Things would feel more familiar. He would have a close, friendly, trustable voice beside him, helping him make his decisions in this new world, and keeping him sane. Now, everything was so surreal. This all felt like a dream, or like a big joke. He didn't know if anything even was real, but he had to try. Reality or not, he's not messing up his life by giving up.

"You love the rain. The way it hits tin roofs. You love coffee. Puppies, but not dogs. Cats in all ages. Pokémon. Television. Internet." Greyson was reminded of something he had been told about Robert and the internet, and it made him think of a conversation that had began about Robert because of that. "And, according to Lyrik, you're versatile."

"Woah, what? Do you even know what that means?"

Greyson smiled. "That you like to give _and_ receive."

Robert shrugged. He couldn't, and wouldn't, deny it. "That's true… Did Lyrik teach you that word, or..?"

"No," Greyson said. "I knew. She just said 'vers.'"

"So, you _are_ gay?"

"Well, yeah. I guess."

"Why didn't you tell me? You told me you weren't. I thought I was joking around with a straight guy. I mean, the way you acted sometimes, I was pretty sure you were at least bi, but like. I didn't know I had an actual chance with you."

"Well, it looks like you do." Greyson grinned and raised his head, their lips meeting, having their first kiss. It was light, and there was no tongue, but it lasted for a few moments, and they both pulled away feeling overwhelmed with feelings that seemed alien now.

They remained in one another's arms, and both nearly fell asleep.

On the verge of passing out, Robert beckoned to the other boy, both of their eyes closed as they were cuddled within one another.

"So, are we…?"

"I've realized life's too short, Robert. I'm willing to take the risk."

"Yes?"

"Yes."

* * *

><p><em>Really big whoops! I know I'm late. I said I would publish on the 15th, but it was quite busy and before I remembered I had to publish this, I was in bed nearly asleep! Then, I pretty much just forgot about publishing it on<em> this_ site.__ So here we go, as promised, the return of ZPS-14!_


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